So... Spring Break and school... The bane of any writer, it seems... Anyway, I've had some issues with the story recently, but I'm back now and ready to continue with it, now that I've been able to refine it a little bit. Hope you enjoy this one, it can only get better from here, right?
Chapter 8
They chose to spend the night in a nearby hotel, since poor Inferno's incident with the sheets had caught on with the rest of the Pokémon Centers. After crashing in two of their rooms, they sat in the breakfast bar on the first floor the next morning. X-Ray was still coughing out the dusty air.
"Wow, you really don't like the coal mining, do you?"
"Shinx…"
"Well, we're here in Oreburgh," Rebecca replied, trying to avoid choking on the air herself. "Do you want to challenge the Gym here?"
"Diamond for sure will be trying to conquer the League…" he mused. "He'll probably give me all sorts of flak for not trying, so yeah, I'll give it a shot."
"Shi?" The blue Pokémon looked up at her Trainer curiously.
"Well, you may not be able to deal with Roark, X-Ray. He likes to use Rock and Ground types, and Electric types don't usually fare well, especially since all you can do is Tackle."
"Shi…"
"Actually…" she noticed, after taking a bite out of her muffin. "John, none of your Pokémon fare well against Rock. It doesn't look like your Chimchar is going to evolve anytime soon…"
"You're right…" He pulled out his Pokedex and flipped through some pages. "Although, it says that Machop are often seen near the mine. Maybe I could get one to help me with the Gym."
"Sounds good. You ready to go?"
A few minutes of walking, and the duo found the gaping entrance to the Oreburgh Mine.
"You know, for a mine, it's not that dark," remarked Rebecca.
"Well, they need light to see where they're digging," was John's response. "That, and Inferno's tail is really bright."
"Chim!"
Despite the light, there wasn't much to look at. The walls were a dark brown, with black specs of coal dotting sections of it all around. The tunnel kept dipping downhill, but it eventually flattened out. When it did, however, they noticed a young man examining one of the walls. An Alakazam stood next to him, illuminating the nearby area with Flash, revealing the man's red shirt and cap.
"Hm… I don't see anything, after all…"
"Hey, you're not a worker," Rebecca exclaimed. "What are you doing down here?"
"Is it fair if I ask you the same question?" he replied calmly. Turning around, he adjusted his hat so he could see them a little better. "Surely this isn't your idea of a romantic getaway, right?"
"What? No!" John stammered stupidly. "We're not here for that! I read that you could find Machop here. I'm trying to find one to help with the Pokémon Gym here."
"Ah, Machop." He nodded knowingly. "A Fighting type that evolves into Machoke. That would work well around here, though they don't appear in the cave, you know. The workers here use them all the time, but in the wild, they only appear to the north of Oreburgh."
"Oh, did I read that wrong…?" As he fumbled through his Pokedex, the mystery man turned to Rebecca.
"Who are you, by the way? You never introduced yourselves."
"I'm Rebecca," she replied. "And this is John. We're helping Prof. Rowan with the Pokedex."
"Oh, really?" He raised his eyebrows. "Well, I wish you luck with such a difficult journey. I would give you my name, but it's really not important right now."
"Well, Mr. Mysterious, what ARE you doing here?"
He turned back towards the wall of stone.
"I've been looking for ancient artifacts in Sinnoh, and was secretly hoping to find something here."
"In a coal mine?" She looked at him suspiciously. "Not the best place to look for mythology, is it?"
"I've found better things in less obvious locations than this, Rebecca. I was simply testing my luck." He glanced around the branching hallways. "Regardless, it seems there's nothing here after all. I guess Sabrina here was mistaken." The Alakazam cast him a dirty look. "Sorry, I 'misinterpreted' her 'correct' observations. Anyway, I must be going. I'll be seeing you later, John and Rebecca." He gestured to his Alakazam. "Let's go, Sabrina."
"Zam." The red-clad Trainer started his hike towards the surface, and as he went, Rebecca's gaze followed him.
"Ancient artifacts? Here? Something's not right…"
"Hey, greater discoveries have been made in less obvious places," John remarked. "Remember the Regis? They were right next to civilization, and no one ever found them until recently. Maybe he's just adventurous. "
"Maybe…"
As he walked out into the sunlight, a frown crossed the young man's face. He had spent a good two hours in that mine, hoping to find some trace of a Plate, but nothing was there. Aw well, better head back to the apartment and talk to Mark, see how he's doing. He walked into the hotel near the Center, taking the elevator to the 10th floor. He and his Alakazam walked down the hall and opened the door to room 1024. Closing the door behind him, he grinned and nodded towards the Nidoking that was staring down the front door.
"Good job, Ganon," he said. "You guarded the place well."
"King," he grunted. Reaching into his bag, the man tossed him a light brown Poke Block.
"You've earned it, buddy." Sitting down at the counter, he pulled out his new and shiny Poketch and pulled up his Facetime app. After selecting the name with a golden box around it (customization is truly a great thing), a phone icon flashed for several seconds before the face a man roughly his age appeared, instead wearing a black and gold cap.
"Commander Gold, are you alone?"
"More or less," was his slightly washed-out reply, the sound of the waves coming through the man's speakers like static. "It's just me and Commander Silver up here on the deck."
"Alright, I'll make this quick. How close are you to Sinnoh?"
"Uh… We should arrive in Canalava by tomorrow morning."
He ran some numbers in his head.
"Ok, I need you to find some people as soon as you get there. When you reach Canalava, don't get a room there. Instead, head west to Jublife. Trust me, you won't miss it. When you get there, there should be two young Trainers coming from the eastern gate to the city. They shouldn't be too hard to spot…"
"Forgive me, Commander Red," he interrupted. "Do you mean you've found new people already?"
"I think so, I'm not sure," he replied exasperatedly. "That's why I'm asking you to help me out."
"If I do find them, and you're right, what should I do?"
"Nothing, just like before. If you can, get a better, closer look at them, but otherwise nothing. Don't give yourself away, and you should be alright. I'll catch up with you later on." Suddenly, a young woman took the seat next to the man in the video.
"Who are you talking to?" She leaned in closer to the screen, and the man instinctively leaned back from the 3D effect of her ice cream cone. "Oh, sorry…"
"Commander Silver, you're doing well, I see."
"Why wouldn't I be?" she puffed. "The food here is spectactular! I can't get enough of it!'
"You'll find a way eventually…" Commanders Red and Gold muttered in sync. "Anyway, contact me when you dock. I'll speak with you then. Commander Red signing out."
"Wait…" the girl muttered. "Did you two just call me fat again?"
"No," her friend said reassuringly. "But, isn't that, like, your tenth cone?"
"I can't help it…" she whined quietly, patting her slightly swollen stomach with her free hand while taking a bite of her ice cream. "They're so good!"
"You're insane, you know that?"
He closed the facetime, and instead turned towards the assortment of papers on the other end of the counter. In the middle of the mess was a stone tablet, light pink in color, with indescribable symbols all along the outside edges of it. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out another tablet, this one bright silver, and laid them side-by-side, forming a taller rectangle, matching up the marks on the edges. Together, the text on the tablets spelled out a language of ancient origins, undecipherable to most. Luckily, the man had been studying this type of text for a long time, and was able to read what was there. He pulled out a piece of paper and began writing the decripted version in longhand.
Three beings came forth from t
for space, and one for the opposite.
bitter, and committed crime against
third was banished to a world opposi
became the embodiment of that world.
one for each, will reveal their descend
from destruction. One for time, one for
It set his heart racing every time he read text like this. Naturally, since he was missing two Plates, only half of the text was readable, but, just like before, the texts described the nature of Legendary Pokémon. This time, apparently, they were directly related to the Original One, though he had no knowledge of their nature. "For space, and one for the Opposite" must be referring to these deities, possible a pair, but it also hinted at a third: "third was banished to a world opposi" probably meant opposite. Perhaps the third lashed out against one of the other two, or perhaps the Original One himself? "One for each, will reveal their descend…" he muttered to himself. The slight mark of the next letter hinted at the word descendants, but since Legendary Pokémon didn't have descendants, it probably referred to the descendants of their ancient defenders.
"One for each, will reveal their descend…" He groaned. "One of what?!" There was no way of knowing. He needed the other two Plates, specifically the one that made the lower right corner, to figure that.
This was the crux of his research. According to what he discovered, humans, at one point in history, had sworn their lives to defend the creations of the Original One from evil. After centuries of peace, some kind of war broke out, and these defenders disappeared from the texts. However, hints at their reappearance were spotted throughout these Plates, and proof of this was already apparent. Already, several ancient bloodlines had been Awakened, and now, in Sinnoh, he was close than ever to discovering the Original One himself. But where to find those other two Plates? After examining the edges of the pink Plate, he could see small specks of purplish-grey.
"Hm, this looks like it could be Ghost… Maybe near the Old Chateau…?" He pulled out the pamphlet from his pocket with a chuckle. "Who's looking cliché now, Cynthia?"
After trekking deeper into the mine, the mystery man's words became more and more apparent. No Machop, save the few with the workers, existed in the mine. In fact, except for the Geodudes and the occasional, heart-stopping Onix attack, nothing lived in here at all. As the trail began to loop into a circle, John took the time to train Inferno to deal with Rock-types.
"Hit it with an Ember!" A small burst of flame erupted from the chimp's mouth and coated the Geodude in flames, bringing it down.
"Dude…" it moaned, crashing to the ground in defeat.
"Great work, Inferno!"
"Chim!"
"You know," Rebecca mused. "He might actually evolve before we're through here…"
"I certaintly hope so." A man in a red construction helmet came out of the tunnel nearby. "That would make your trip through the Gym that much easier."
"Hey, aren't you Roark, the Leader?"
"Yep, that's right." He tipped his hat to them. "I was spending some time here, helping out the digging, but now I think I'll head back to the Gym. You looking to challenge me?"
"That's right," was John's reply. Inferno balled his fists.
"Well, then, come in when you're ready." He walked off towards the exit, but as soon as he was gone, the pair could hear a growling sound.
"Do you hear that…?" Suddenly, a large, light grey-colored snake burst out of the ground in front of them, red eyes glaring down at the defenseless group.
"Panic time!" Rebecca exclaimed.
"Let's get out of here, Inferno!" However, the little chimp didn't move.
"Chim…" Fists balled up in anger, eyes glaring as fiercely as the Onix's, it was prepped for the fight of its life.
"Inferno!" he cried. "Not even your Ember will be enough to deal with that Onix! We need to leave right now!"
"Chim!" He whipped his head around to look at his Trainer, and John noticed the flare in its eyes.
"No way…"
"Chimchar!" In an instant, the chimp leapt at incredible speed and delivered a brutal punch to the Onix's forehead.
"Grah!"
"Mach Punch?!" Rebecca exclaimed. "That can only mean…"
As if on cue, a white light engulfed the Chimchar's body, blinding everyone around and illuminating the entire tunnel. When the light receded, Inferno had changed. Its light orange fur had darkened, and its once-stubby tail had grown out to proper size. Blue circles appeared around its eyes, and the flame on its tail burned much higher.
"Inferno evolved!" cried John. "He's now a Monferno!"
"Fer!" Wasting no time for show, the Monferno ran forward and landed another Mach Punch on the rock snake.
"Onix!" Realizing its disadvantage, the Pokémon recoiled back into its hole quickly, admitting defeat. Pleased with the battle, Inferno walked over to his astonished Trainer and held up a hand.
"Monferno!"
"Yeah, Inferno, you evolved!" They exchanged a high-five. "All right!" His eyes narrowed. "Let's show Roark who's boss."