"Man I hate caves," muttered Zoe, ducking down to avoid any low hanging cave roofs. Mac was forced to squint in the pitch black, with only Charmander's tail to light the way. They were constantly stuck in semi darkness.
"I think it's just a little further until we're out," said Mac, stumbling over a rock that he didn't notice. Suddenly an enormous roar echoed through the cave, throwing Charmander to the floor and plunging the group into darkness.
"Um Zoe?" said a small voice from the darkness
"Yeh Mac?" answered an annoyed Zoe
"That wasn't you roaring was it?" asked Mac timidly.
"No Mac, no I'm afraid not," Zoe said between gritted teeth.
As the light from Charmander's tail relit the cave, Nate tried to survey the cave up ahead. "Hmm, wonder what roared? It could have been a…" Nate was cut off by a piercing scream. Looking worriedly to one another, the three trainers broke into a run.
"Cyndaquil, I don't know what to do!" wailed Kaori, tears sliding down her face. The Machoke roared again, flexing its muscles aggressively and advancing on Cyndaquil. However Cyndaquil did not back off, in fact it almost seemed to edge a little bit closer, the flame on its back surging with anger.
"Cyndaquil, what should I do?" Yelled Kaori, edging back into the cave wall, her face white with fear. But Cyndaquil seemed to know what to do, stepping towards Machoke, staring him straight in the eye. Kaori noticed, from the corner of her eye, three figures appear from the gloom; they stopped as they saw Machoke and Cyndaquil and stood silently.
Cyndaquil opened its mouth and unleashed a jet of flame that crashed into Machoke, throwing it off balance.
"Good flamethrower Cyndaquil!" said a proud Kaori, wiping the tears from her face. She watched as Cyndaquil delivered a smashing tackle, throwing Machoke to the ground. Cyndaquil continued to glare angrily at Machoke for several seconds and then, after making sure it was down for good, it returned to Kaori's side nuzzling affectionately into her leg.
Zoe looked the small trainer up and down. She had short brown hair in bunches and couldn't have been taller than 5 foot, she was Asian and had beautiful blue eyes and a cute pointed nose. She was wearing a tie-die T-shirt which hung down to almost her knees and dark blue jeans. Zoe watched as Kaori knelt down to Cyndaquil thanking it for all it had done.
"Hey girl!" Shouted Zoe, catching Kaori's attention. "Hurry up and catch that Machoke!"
Kaori looked confused for a moment and then realised what Zoe meant, throwing out a poke ball at the Machoke. The red and white ball shook from side to side before a loud PING rang out across the cave.
Kaori bent down to pick up the ball as Mac, Nate and Zoe hurried over to her.
"Are you alright?" Asked Mac, as Charmander and Cyndaquil introduced themselves to one another.
"Who are you?" Questioned Kaori cautiously.
"I'm Nate and this is Zoe and Mac," Nate said, "and you are?"
"Kaori and if you don't mind I have to go find my… friend," she mumbled not catching their eyes.
"You've lost someone?"
"Yes a… close friend…" muttered Kaori half to herself as she grabbed a poke ball from her waist. Dropping it on the floor, it opened to reveal a pink blob with a four-leafed plant on its back.
"Hoppip, use flash!" Suddenly a blinding white flash lit up the entire cave around them, seeping into even the darkest of corners.
"Wow Kaori, that's pretty useful, where'd you learn that? Asked Mac, looking around at the cavern, now bathed in light.
"You don't know flash? Don't you have the Boulder Badge?" Questioned Kaori, beginning to walk down the cavern.
"Yeh I got the Boulder Badge," bragged Zoe, stroking the shiny token on her shirt. "Why?"
"Once you have the badge, you can use Flash, outside of battle," she said quietly, slightly nervous of Zoe. "With Cyndaquil's help I was able to get the Boulder Badge and now I can go through Mt.Moon with enough light to not get lost. Or so I'd hoped…" Kaori trailed off sadly.
"Don't worry Kaori, we'll help you find… uh who are you looking for?"
"My friend… Griff," answered Kaori, biting her lip nervously.
"Well with your Hoppip's flash, I'm sure we'll find him in…" Mac tried to reassure Kaori but he was cut off by a yell from further along the cave.
"Kaori! HELP!"
With a strange feeling of déjà vu Mac, Nate and Zoe burst into a run, Kaori leading the way at a flat out sprint. After a few minutes of hard running, the three of them were gasping for breath and very glad as Kaori skidded to a halt. They weren't glad for very long.
An enormous dinosaur stood before them, stamping its feet on the ground angrily.
"That's a Tyranitar!" Gasped Mac, taking a nervous step backwards.
But Kaori stepped closer, anger burning in her eyes. "Leave Griff alone!" She bellowed, beckoning for Cyndaquil to get by her side. Zoe noticed a small blonde haired boy, lying unconscious, just in front of Tyranitar, a poke ball still in his hand.
"Cyndaquil! Flamethrower now!" Cried Kaori. Cyndaquil reeled back on its hind legs and then unleashed a stream of fire. Tyranitar turned away from Griff and stared angrily at Kaori, the flames washing off its body like a gentle breeze.
"Kaori! It's too powerful! Let me help! Charmander, Ember!" Shouted Nate, the flames of his Charmander joining those from Cyndaquil. But it didn't seem to make any difference, as Tyranitar continued to take the fire unflinchingly.
Then, without warning, it slammed its fists into the ground, throwing up the earth around Cyndaquil and Charmander. As the dust cleared, the unconscious bodies of Charmander and Cyndaquil revealed themselves.
"No," whispered Kaori, "Cyndaquil…"
"Bad luck guys!" Laughed Zoe, "I want this Tyranitar on my team! Poochyena, come on out!"
"This is going to be hard Zoe!" Warned Mac, "Bulbasaur let's go!"
"Wurmple, help them out!" Roared Nate, the three pokemon amassing in front of Tyranitar.
Kaori stood, petrified, wishing she could do something, anything, to help Griff. Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Wurmple launched into their attack; Squirtle soaking it with water gun; Bulbasaur smacking it with vines and Wurmple firing its sticky string shot, slowing the huge Dinosaur down considerably.
"Kaori?" Mumbled a confused Griff, stirring slightly on the floor.
"Griff, come here quickly!" Begged Kaori, watching the Tyranitar from the corner of her eye.
Suddenly another blinding white flash, lit up the cave around them. But this time it wasn't Hoppip's flash but Wurmple glowing brightly.
"Wurmple? Are you… evolving?" Whispered an amazed Nate. Bulbasaur, Squirtle and even Tyranitar stopped for a moment and watched as Wurmple's silhouette changed slowly into that of a cocoon.
"Wow that's incredible," said Mac, filled with awe. Tyranitar roared angrily, apparently not liking the lack of attention, and pulled an enormous rock from the cave wall, lifting it ferociously above its head.
"Squirtle look out!"
"Bulbasaur, NO!"
But Zoe and Mac's cries fell on deaf ears, as Bulbasaur, Squirtle and the newly evolved Wurmple were caught beneath the rock and all three of them KO'd instantly.
"Damn," Cursed Zoe.
"Its so strong," said Mac, returning his Bulbasaur with a sigh.
"It's up to me then," said Kaori, more to herself than anyone else.
"Machoke, lets go!" she cried, releasing her newly caught pokemon.
"Machoke, Low Kick!" Machoke prepared to kick. Then, instead, it turned and gave Kaori a contemptuous glare before sitting down defiantly between its trainer and its opponent.
"What? Machoke, Low Kick now!" Insisted Kaori, but Machoke merely groaned and turned its head away from her. "Why won't you listen to me?" she whined.
"Machoke's too high a level! He won't listen to you, because he doesn't think you're a worthy trainer!" Yelled Mac, backing away from Tyranitar as it advanced menacingly towards them.
"Machoke, please!" begged Kaori, her eyes brimming once more with tears as Tyranitar began to lift another rock. With a sigh, Machoke rose to its feet, stretching its shoulders, preparing to fight. Without waiting for a command from Kaori, Machoke launched into combat with Tyranitar. Tyranitar stumbled back, dropping its rock mere inches from Griff's still body, causing Kaori to gasp fearfully.
Zoe and Mac were forced to dive out of the way as Tyranitar sent Machoke spinning towards them. Machoke's eyes widened in shock as Tyranitar, now angrier than ever, pounded across the cave towards it. Kaori couldn't bare to watch as Tyranitar and Machoke locked themselves in combat, punching and kicking each other furiously. The four trainers were powerless, unable to stop the raging battle.
Griff opened his eyes slowly. Mistaking the darkness for that of the cave, Griff tried to get up, for fear of Tyranitar. But as he tried to lift his head a painful throbbing in the back of his head prevented him and he flopped back down on the grass.
Strange. Grass? In a cave?
This cave was strange. Lights shone faintly in the ceiling, the ground was strangely moist and it seemed almost alive with noise, chirps of birds and whistles and clicks from Bug pokemon. Then, something strange loomed into his vision. A bizarre pink blob, looking down at him, bright yellow eyes glowing on its body.
"Hoppip!" the thing cried joyfully and Griff slowly pieced together what was going on. This thing was not a thing. It was Hoppip, Kaori's pokemon and good friend. He wasn't in the cave; he was in the fresh air, lying on the wet dewy ground. He felt his belt and was happy to find his poke ball still safe and sound.
Suddenly he remembered what he had found in Mt. Moon and sprang to his feet, ignoring the pain screaming out from his body. He spotted Kaori sitting a few feet away by a roaring campfire. Hurrying over, he searched frantically for his back pack, ignoring her lectures about not running off. Pushing through several people he didn't recognise, he hurried into his tent, which had already been set up.
There, sitting on his sleeping bag, was the thing he had desired; his back pack and inside it, three shining moonstones, hot out of Mt. Moon. With a sigh of relief, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and wandered out to the fire, becoming curious about the three strangers.
"…Ever, ever run off again, you hear me?" finished Kaori, red in the face with rage.
"Yeh, yeh whatever," said Griff, waving Kaori away. "So who are you lot?" he asked, bemused. Nate looked down on the small blonde boy and introduced himself and his friends once more.
"You guys are trainers?" asked Griff, his eyes shining with excitement. "That's awesome!" he squeaked. Rushing between the three trainers, he demanding to be shown their pokemon. After several more animated introductions, Griff finally agreed to sit down and discuss the events inside the cave.
"So what did you run off for?" questioned Zoe.
"These!" Griff giggled, opening his backpack. He slipped his hand inside and slipped out three beautiful shining Moonstones. "Check these out!" he cried holding them up, the light from the fire dancing across each stone. Kaori couldn't help but smile at Griff's excited expression.
Griff jumped to his feet, his eyes set on the horizon. "Cerulean City look out! Because with these Moon stones, the Cascade Badge is as good as mine!"
Two new Characters
An unexplained evolution
And some new pokemon
Please read and review if you have the time