plot is real. steven is a nerdlord dweebcake never forget this.
im doing this im making this hapen
DOUBLE LENGTH CHAPTER just because i had no good cutoff points. after this, if im remembering correctly it should be all new stuff instead of replacement chapters? i think. maybe.
Riley rejoins Steven in the main room a couple minutes later, looking rather more alert. Moreso when Steven hands him a cup of coffee and gestures at the packs on the table as he does.
"Everything's set up, more or less. If you're still good to go?"
Riley would have laughed if his mouth weren't full off coffee. Instead, he shakes his head. "Of course I'm going. It's my job, you can't officially go alone, and I'd hate to miss out should you find anything."
"I'm worried about you."
"There's no need to be."
"You had better be right about that."
But that doesn't stop Steven from casting the occasional concerned glance at Riley as the other man inspects what Steven's packed up for their adventure, occasionally making comments or going to fetch something and add it. Riley's Lucario joins Steven eventually, giving him a look of understanding and then moving his hand to her head so that she might get pets. "Nothing's going to happen," Steven says, more to himself than the Pokemon. Lucario nods anyways.
If nothing else, she will ensure that everything is fine. No one's getting hurt on her watch.
It's roughly noon before both Riley and Steven declare everything in acceptable state, grab packs and Pokemon, and set out to the cave system. The point of the expedition was mainly to see what was in the lower level tunnels, an area that Riley had only recently fixed the access elevator to, and see how far they went and what was down there. He personally felt more at ease exploring when he had someone with him, and Steven just likes going through new areas to see if there is anything geologically interesting down there. They make a good team.
Getting through the first few floors is no trouble at all, and it's accomplished in only a couple of hours. Four at the most. The trainers that practice around here have since learned that Riley is rarely a person they want to challenge (quiet around strangers as he may be, the man is an absolute terror to battle), and the grey haired guy who goes with him on occasion is even worse. The Pokemon around have learned the same, and many prefer to either act benevolently around their island's guardian or ignore him entirely. It works out nicely when they're trying to get somewhere in a hurry, and Steven and Riley end up at the previously defunct elevator with ease.
Steven walks around, inspecting it. "And it's good to carry our weight?"
"It can carry my Metagross, so I figured we should not be a problem. Though there's not working lights installed down there like there are up here. I added lamps to the bag, so-"
He's cut off by Steven abruptly turning to Riley with a excited grin and holding up a Pokeball. "I've got that covered." He tosses it, and a smallish Bronzor pops out with a chime.
"A Bronzor?"
"Yep! Caught it recently around here. Isn't it cool? Byron advised it." Steven pats the Pokemon happily and Riley can't help but laugh under his breath as Steven carries on about how cool Bronzor is. What a nerd.
"Anyways- here's why I caught it in the first place. C'mon." Steven takes Riley's hand and pulls him over to the elevator, Bronzor following behind them. Steven kicks the lever to move the elevator, and they descend into the shadows. The gloom hardly has time to get thicker before Steven says "Alright, close your eyes," and Bronzor sets out a flash of light that leaves red stars in both Steven's and Riley's vision. The light lessens in intensity afterwards, but there's still a glow that's equivalent to dusk lighting illuminating a large circle around the group. Riley can feel how proud of himself and his Pokemon Steven is, it radiates off of his aura in dandelion-coloured waves. "Good job," he says to both of them. Bronzor chimes. Steven's smile widens.
Thankfully for Riley, Steven lets go of Riley's hand before he suddenly jumps off the elevator, saving Riley from most likely crashing into the floor. They haven't even completely reached the bottom yet and he's already off. Riley follows after, hardly unexcited himself. It's a completely new region of Iron Island, one he never had the chance to explore. Time for an adventure.
Riley keeps track of where they are on his Poketch, doing his best to sketch out a rough map as they go. It'll be easier to keep track and redraw it later, when he's back at the cabin. Steven, on the other hand, monitors the walls and ground carefully, often commenting on some interesting rock or formation that Riley absolutely must look at.
The thing Steven gets the most excited about is some small, pink crystals scattered sporadically about the cave walls. They first crop up about an hour into their walking, and Steven is absolutely enthralled.
He calls Riley over as he's crouched by a rock with about four of the pink growth emerging out of it, none of the crystals any larger than an inch long. They both kneel to inspect it, Bronzor floating like a balloon over their head. "Look, I've never seen anything quite like it. It looks like quartz, a little, but it's a weird shape." Steven passes the rock over to Riley, who prods at it. He's hardly a geologist, but he makes an attempt every so often. The crystals feel odd, and touching them causes a faint sense of tightness in his chest. Strange.
"Hey, is it just me, or does it look a bit like they're shining?" Riley asks, prodding at the rock.
"Hm? Maybe. Let's find out." Steven leans over his shoulder, gesturing from the Bronzor to dim its light.
It does, and the crystals are still visible, little pink dots that give off just enough light to be noticeable.
"Cool," is Riley's only scientific contribution to the discovery.
Steven pokes his cheek, doing his absolute best to keep from jumping in place like an overexcitable puppy. "Can I take some back? Please? I mean, if not I understand you're supposed to preserve the integrity of the island but Riley please it's for science I have to have it." His air is overloaded with enthusiasm, to the point where Riley has to put effort to keep it from sticking onto his aura and getting him unduly excited as well. He can't help but laugh, though. "Yes, you can keep one. One, though, and I'd better get a full analysis back." He grins lopsidedly, and Steven promptly hugs him with a loud expression of gratitude and an "Of course!"
At least he's easy to please, and Riley makes sure to carefully wrap the rock and place it in Steven's backpack.
Steven's mood hardly dampens by the time they have to set up something resembling a camp, and Riley's just accepted that it's contagious and let the cheer spread.
It's late, they know that much, but neither care enough to check the time. They're in a cave. Who cares, it's dark all the time. They're just going to eat something, sit around for a bit, and sleep. There's no need to bother with tents, though Steven sends out his Metagross and Riley his Lucario for the sake of safety from both wild Pokemon and alerts in the event of some disaster. Unlikely, but possible. Bronzor can dim its light, as Riley simply leaves a lamp out on a low setting.
Steven is the first to sleep, excusing himself from conversation with a loud yet accidental yawn and plopping down on his sleeping bag. He's out in a heartbeat.
Riley does his best to stay awake, as he doesn't wish a repeat of this morning. Surely just one night's worth of insomnia cannot be that hard, but he can hardly last another hour before he too is curled up, asleep despite the rocks underneath him jabbing his stomach when he shifts. Despite clinging to the sense of both Pokemon and Steven beside him, that feeling only lasts so long.
He is in the same cave, but this time his is abandoned. It is lit enough to see, but there are no lights visible aside from the glowing aura surrounding the pink crystals in the wall. They bind him in place, but it is not unwelcome restraint. Riley knows he cannot walk toward the exit, and that no one is here. No humans, no Pokemon, nothing. As much as he may wander, he will always be stuck. This time, instead of fear it is the sense of overwhelming loneliness that surrounds him and seeps to clench between his ribs.
This time it is Lucario that manages to wake him, thankfully before anyone else rises. She leans against Riley and he hugs her tightly. The Pokemon's aura is comforting and he'll take what he can get here. By the time Steven gets up, Riley's scrubbed away any remaining emotion from his dream and set about handing over prepackaged breakfasts. They're only planning to spend one more day in the cave, may as well get going.
Bronzor lights itself back up as Riley extinguishes their lamp and they set off.
Riley hardly strays too far from Steven this time. He feels dizzy and exhausted, and the yellowish glow of his companion's aura is enough to concentrate on and keep him on his feet, awake. Lucario stands by him, keeping watch.
Steven, of course, notices something is amiss. He joins the 'keep an eye on Riley' brigade, though his efforts are somewhat less noticeable. He does his best to ensure the he stays within a few feet of Riley. You know, just in case. he doesn't know what would happen, Steven just knows that he both feels uneasy and wants to protect the man next to him.
"You know," he starts hesitantly, unsure where exactly he's trying to go with this. "You honestly don't seem in top form."
"I'm fine."
"Yes, I'm sure you will be. But, eh. You were mentioning your Lucario trying to shoo you off, and I still think vacations are good things and a change of scene might help."
"'M not going to a city." That fact Riley is adamant on.
Steven shakes his head. "Do you honestly think I'm going to dump you in someplace like Castiela and laugh? Give me some credit. If you still feel like crap and don't entirely hate me by the time I'm to leave, I'm dragging you back to Mossdeep with me. You hardly ever come out there, anyways, and I feel bad for always crashing at your house." Steven's rambling, and he realizes it in time to snap his mouth shut without things getting too awkward. There's a brief pause before Riley speaks again.
"Mossdeep?"
"Yes, Mossdeep. There's not many people there, the area's nice, and it'd be nice to give my guest room some purpose in its existence. If your Lucario (and let's face it, myself as well) want you to learn the definition of a vacation, what's so bad about it?"
Riley shrugged. "I don't want to leave the island at risk for another Team Galactic fiasco."
"Riley, there's Trainers here daily who know the rules of the island probably as well as you do, and there's been no reports of Galactic for month. Accept it. It'll be fun."
Riley grumbles, mostly just bitter about his Lucario finally winning her argument of getting him to go somewhere else, even if it was indirectly. "Fine."
Steven grins widely and considers his mission accomplished. He doesn't stop keeping an eye on Riley, he's just glad that he might have convinced him into do something helpful.
Concern for Riley doesn't stop Steven from keeping a running commentary on the stone formations, though. Not even remotely. They're heading northward, they can both tell that much, which means at least some of the island's systems must be subaquatic. How far it goes is an expedition for later. The pink crystals also accumulate the farther along the tunnel they go. It's not much, but the small stones definitely appear more frequently, and many of them are just slightly larger than the previous ones seen. Steven measures.
There are a few side tunnels, common for the style of cave excavation at the time, but many of them are caved in, and both Steven and Riley prefer to stay in the larger main tunnel for now. It doesn't curve much, just progresses steadily north.
Eventually, about halfway through the day, the tunnel stops. The path is blocked with a massive chasm, about ten feet across and seemingly deep. There are no offshoot passages nearby, and while they likely could cross the chasm on a Pokemon, the tunnel has collapsed in a rock slide only a few feet beyond it. It seems they'll have to go back, at the very least.
But the roadblock itself is something Steven deems interesting enough to inspect, and he trots over to it, peering downwards. Riley follows after, significantly more hesitant. Something around here doesn't resonate well, and the rock itself gives off an aura that makes him feel ill.
"Shame we got blocked off, but we can always take a second tunnel until it's time to go back. How deep do you think it is?"
"Don't know. You can try and toss something down there?" Riley's stepped over to the cave wall, leaning his weight against it. It's easier to do that than walk over an join Steven, especially when taking steps makes his head spin. Falling into a tunnel is not something he's very keen on.
"Riley-"
"I'm good, just. One second."
Steven sighs. If he says so. He directs most of his attention back to the cut in the rocks, flicking a pebble of the edge. All he gets in return is silence as the shadows quickly swallow up the rock. "Hm."
His Bronzor is acting upset as well, it stays nearby Steven but refuses to go any nearer to the chasm than a foot above its edge. The light from its Flash hardly penetrates the shadows at all, instead they just seem to swirl around and absorb it.
"Seems pretty dep."
"Yeah. I'll. Come back later and try to clear the tunnel out sometime."
Riley's voice sounds caught between strained and tired, and when Steven looks over, the man is sitting slumped against the wall, eyes shut and pale.
"Riley, are you-"
"Fine."
Steven moves to stand, to protest no you obviously are not before something drags his attention back to the shadows. He doesn't know what, but he gets the distinct sense that something is there. The shadows move like exhales and someone wishes to speak to him.
The champion of Hoenn stares, wide-eyed and frozen in place.