Chapter 41: The Cave
By the time the sun went down, and night time came, the rain that had soaked the wasteland had completely stopped, and the clouds that made it had gone away, leaving nothing to block the stars and the moon in the sky.
The ground Isaac and Jennifer walked on was still very muddy though. The team was going to take at least another full day before they reached Havok City.
"Psssst, Isaac." Jennifer whispered. "I think something is following us."
Isaac and Jennifer both stopped and turned back towards the direction they came from. Isaac looked but didn't see anything or anyone that might have been following them.
"I don't see anything, are you sure you saw something?"
"Maybe not... I guess I'm just a little paranoid right now." Jennifer opened her mouth wide and let out a huge yawn. "Sorry."
"It's ok. You're tired, like me, and probably Regal too." Isaac thought to himself for a moment. "I think we should probably get some rest somewhere. We'd probably collapse from exhaustion if we tried to get from here to Havok City without stopping." Isaac waved at Regal. "Hey Regal, were gonna take some time to rest."
Regal immediately flew down, passed over Plusle to Jennifer, and laid down on the wet ground. "Thank goodness... I've never been so tired in my entire life."
"Well, not here... It's too wet and there's mud everywhere."
"Where then?" Asked Regal.
"There's some rocks over there." Said Jennifer, pointing to the rocks in question. "Maybe we can find a dry spot there."
"Great idea Jennifer." Complemented Isaac. "Let's go."
Regal reluctantly got off the ground, and flew towards the rocks, going ahead of Isaac and Jennifer. Jennifer continued to carry Plusle, who was still somehow sleeping after so long.
The rocks that Jennifer had pointed out turned out to be natural landmarks for a cave that went down into the ground, like a diagonal tunnel.
"This is perfect!" Said Jennifer. "It'll be nice and dry in here for sure!"
"It's pretty dark though." Regal pointed out. "I can't see more then a few feet in."
"That's fine." Said Isaac. "The ground around the opening of this cave is dry enough that we should be able to sleep comfortably, we don't need to go that far inside."
Regal landed on the stone floor of the cave entrance, then immediately laid himself down. "Ahh... Not as good as sleeping in a bed, but it'll do..."
Isaac yawned, then sat down with his back against the wall. Jennifer sat beside him and rested her head on his side. Isaac looked over at her and saw that she was staring at Plusle, with the look of admiration in her eyes.
"I never noticed until now how cute she is." Said Jennifer quietly. "I almost wish I could keep her for myself to take care of."
"Why don't you just ask Regal if you can help with anything?"
"Oh no... I'd probably just get in his way or something. I've never had to actually take care of anyone before. It was always me who was taken care of by someone else, never the other way around."
"I think you would be great at it."
"At what?" She asked.
"Taking care of a kid. You're nice, gentle, caring..."
"Maybe." Jennifer yawned loudly. "My mother always told me the same thing, but I never really believed it. She made it all seem easy, taking care of so many of us so well."
"I think if she was so good at taking care of people, she would be a good judge of who was also able to do it. You shouldn't doubt yourself Jennifer, you don't give yourself enough credit."
"I don't know... What have I really done in my life to deserve credit for anything? Sorting mail is near the top of my list of accomplishments."
"What about all the help you've given us? You're a great fighter, and a great friend, and I speak for everyone when I say it wouldn't be the same without you on the team."
"I guess..."
"Jennifer, before I joined Team Valiant, I was alone. Sure, I had my father, and Pipton was full of other Piplup, but I never really fit in. The others cared about nothing except survival. Eat, sleep, rinse and repeat. I was different, I wanted to explore, discover, do something that would have an impact on the world." Isaac sighed. "When everyone was killed the day Lloyd and Rita had arrived, I thought I had lost everything, I thought my life was over. But when they took me to Brotherhood Headquarters, I quickly felt more at home then I ever have before."
"I feel the same way. I never really felt like I belonged anywhere until you invited me to join Team Valiant. Life at home was miserable, with my sisters teasing me all the time, and working at the mail room was driving me nuts."
"What did you want to do? Before joining us?"
"All I've ever wanted was a quiet, peaceful, normal life. Home would have been fine if my sisters weren't so mean to me about everything."
"That sounds nice."
"Yeah... But I think the life I have now is even better. Lloyd... Rita... Regal and Sakura.... And you more then anyone... I wouldn't trade my friends for anything."
"Me neither."
Regal began to mumble something in his sleep. "Mmmm... No... I don't need anything... Thank you... But I'm allergic... Gah!" Regal started to snore quietly, and stopped mumbling.
"I think it's about time we got some sleep, it won't be long before morning."
"Alright." Jennifer looked up at Isaac. "That was a great talk Isaac. Thanks."
"Yeah..."
After that, neither Isaac or Jennifer said anything. It wasn't long before everyone was fast asleep. And it wasn't long after that, that Plusle had woken up from her long sleep.
Mmm, Hungry.
Plusle walked over to Regal, and shook him as hard as she could, but she couldn't wake him up.
She looked around and noticed the large, yellow pokemon that feed her the electricity was gone. Without the electricity he produced, she wouldn't be able to eat.
Figuring the yellow guy was nearby somewhere, Plusle walked further into the cave, alone.
Isaac, Jennifer and Regal all slept soundly, not knowing the newborn they we're caring for was leaving them.
---
Isaac woke up just as the sun was beginning to rise. He felt strange from sleeping on the stone floor of the cave opening, but stood up and quickly got over it.
Jennifer, who was laying on her side next to where Isaac just was, was still sleeping despite the sunlight shining in her eyes. Isaac went over to her and nudged her slightly, urging her to wake up.
"Uuuuuuh... No I don't wanna get up yet." Jennifer Said sleepily. "Go away..."
"Jennifer, its me. Come on, wake up we gotta leave soon."
"Ok... Ok... Gimme a minute..." She rolled over onto her back and sat up, but didn't stand, then she yawned loudly while rubbing her eyes. "Man... So tired..."
"I know." Said Isaac. "Me too. But we gotta get a move on if were going to get to Havok City today."
Isaac left Jennifer alone, allowing her time to wake up fully, and moved on to waking up Regal. Isaac nudged Regal with his foot, and Regal instantly woke up, startled.
"Ahhhh!" He yelled. "Huh? Oh... Isaac it's you." He yawned. "So, I'm guessing it's time for us to go?"
"Yeah, as soon as were all awake, we'll leave and head to Havok City."
Regal got up. When he did he looked around and noticed something missing. "Hey, where is the baby?"
"Plusle?" Jennifer asked. She looked around as well and she too noticed that Plusle was nowhere to be found. "Oh no, she's not here!"
"I'll look around outside." Said Isaac, who was already on his way out of the cave.
Jennifer and Regal followed Isaac, and they all looked around for Plusle.
"Pluuuuuuuusle!" They all called out.
"Plusle, where are you!" Yelled Jennifer.
They yelled out for Plusle for awhile, and eventually, every stopped, realizing Plusle had not come out of the cave.
"Plusle wouldn't of been able to get far out here." Said Isaac. "The only place she could be is further inside that cave."
"Well? What are we waiting for?" Asked Regal. "Lets get inside and look for her!"
"We don't know what's in this cave, so we have to be careful." Explained Isaac. "There's a chance that the cave is the entrance to a mystery dungeon, and if it is, that means there will be wild pokemon below."
"Oh no... What if one of those wild pokemon find Plusle first?" Jennifer didn't even want to think about what would happen, there was no chance a newborn pokemon could defend itself against one of the wild pokemon that lived in the wasteland.
"Don't worry, we're going to save her. We won't let anything happen to her." Isaac lead the way back into the cave. Despite the fact the sun was starting to rise, the cave was still very dark and nobody was able to see very far inside.
"Stay close everyone." Isaac told the others. "And be careful."
---
It wasn't long before Team Valiant journeyed deep enough into the cave that their was no light left helping them see from the sun outside. Everyone was barely able to see more then a few feet in front of them, and even then they couldn't see very clearly unless it was right up close.
The cave was quiet. Nobody could hear anything except their own footsteps, and the occasional sound of water dripping somewhere in the cave.
"Hey, what's this stuff?" Jennifer suddenly asked.
Isaac and Regal turned towards Jennifers voice and went towards it. They found Jennifer standing next to what looked like a long strand of white rope sticking to the ceiling and floor. Jennifer grabbed at it curiously, and then tried letting go of it, but wasn't able to. The sticky strand stuck to her like super glue.
"Eww, get it off!" She cried out as she continued to pull her hand away. Isaac grabbed her arm and they both pulled away. Their combined strength managed to free Jennifer, and both she and Isaac fell backwards.
"Gross, what is that stuff?"
"It looks like part of a web." Said Regal. "Most bug type pokemon can make it or something similar, and typically use it to capture other pokemon."
"Ugh, that sounds horrible." Said Jennifer. "It felt so weird, and I wouldn't have been able to get it off without Isaacs help."
"There's probably even more down the hall." Warned Regal. "We need to be extra careful not to touch any of it."
They were about to move on, and continue to go further inside the cave, but suddenly everyone heard a strange sound that loudly echoed through the cavern. A strange, hissing sound.
"What was that?" Asked Jennifer.
"I know that sound." Said Regal, who sounded very worried. "Spinarak. Oasis Island had a lot of them in the forest I lived in. This is very bad."
"What's wrong? What makes them so dangerous?" Asked Isaac.
"They're more then just wild pokemon, they don't attack alone, they all attack as a large swarm, overwhelming their prey with just numbers. Individually they are weak, but their teamwork and numbers is what makes them so dangerous."
The hissing sound was heard again, even louder this time.
"They must know we're here, they're getting closer." Said Isaac.
The members of Team Valiant all gathered close together, putting themselves back to back to avoid any surprise attacks. The hissing sounds of the Spinarak got louder, and more frequent, and it became more and more obvious that there was a lot of them coming.
The first one appeared not from any side, but came in from above. One of the Spinarak had climbed up on the roof and leapt down between Team Valiant, sending everyone in different directions, separating them.
Several Spinarak appeared from the shadows and immediately jumped onto Isaac, trying to bring him down. Isaac shook them off, then blasted them with quick bubble beam attacks. The small size of the Spinarak made them weak, so taking them down one by one wasn't difficult, but each one that went down was soon replaced.
Regal had the most trouble fighting the Spinarak. Not only was he the easiest to bring down, but Regal had yet to fight anything since evolving, leaving him with no option other then to avoid the Spinarak who leapt from every direction.
When the first Spinarak attacked, Jennifer was knocked far from either Isaac or Regal, far enough that she wasn't able to see either of them in the darkness, she was only able to hear them as they fought against the Spinarak. Jennifer had to fight off three of the spider pokemon by herself, kicking at them and throwing off of her whenever they tried to bring her down.
Several Spinarak jumped down from the roof onto Isaacs back, almost flooring him. Isaac panicked, and tried to get them off by running backwards into a wall. Isaac immediately regretted this, because as soon as he collided with what he thought was a wall, but was actually a pillar of stone going from the floor to the ceiling, the pillar was destroyed, and the cave began to rumble loudly.
Before anyone could react, the hallway they were in caved in. The cave in filled the space that was between Isaac and Regal, and where Jennifer had been forced to go when the Spinarak first attacked. Jennifer was once again separated from her friends, and was alone in the near pitch black cave.
Jennifer went over to the newly formed stone wall that split the group, and banged against it. "Isaac! Can you hear me!?"
She couldn't hear any response coming from the other side.
Jennifer wasn't about to leave without them. The last time she was separated from the members of Team Valiant she was with, they had disappeared.
"Hello!" She called out down the other paths through the cave, hoping Isaac or Regal could hear her. Neither of them responded.
I gotta help them. I hope this is the right way. She thought as she ran down one of the halls they had not explored yet.
---
Isaac and Regal kept fighting off the Spinarak that attacked them, but both were getting tired, and there seemed to be no limit to the number of the spider pokemon in the cave.
Regal was finally brought down when two of the Spinarak jumped up at him from opposite directions, landing onto his wings and gripping them tightly, causing him to drop from the air like a stone and hit the ground hard.
With Isaac as the last threat, the Spinarak were all able to team up and swarm him. Isaac tried to shake them off of him, but it wasn't long before they brought him down. Isaac tried getting up, but suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked, and saw one of the larger Spinarak with its twin pincers biting him. Isaac felt sick to his stomach, and his whole body refused to move. Another of the larger Spinarak did the same to Regal, biting him while the others pinned him down. Both Isaac and regal tried to fight the poison, but it wasn't long before both of them lost consciousness.
Satisfied that their prey had been defeated, the Spinarak all worked together to carry them away, deeper into the cave.
---
Jennifer didn't know where she was going, but she continued to travel through the cave, hoping she could find a way around the cave in.
Once in awhile, she heard the hissing sounds of the Spinarak, as well as the sound of them moving through the cave. Luckily, they weren't moving towards Jennifer, otherwise she would stand no chance of defending herself alone.
As much as she wanted to, she didn't dare call out the names of her missing friends, all that would do is bring every one of the spider pokemon to her that could here her voice. So all she did was quietly, but quickly, look through the cave.
Eventually, she found more of the web strands that the Spinarak created sticking to the walls. The further she went, the more of them there were. Jennifer wasn't sure if she wanted to keep going down this path, because if there was more webs, there was probably more Spinarak she would have to avoid. But then Jennifer remember, it was right around the area where the cave in occurred when she found the sticky web strand that she had gotten stuck to. Maybe I'm going the right way after all? She thought.
As Jennifer continued down through the cave, she noticed that it gradually became easier to see. At first she thought she was heading towards a way out, which she didn't want, but then she noticed that the light came from the ceiling. There was holes in the ceiling every once in awhile, they weren't very big, but they were big enough to let in some sunlight, and Jennifer was finally able to see inside the cave.
As the light got brighter, the number of webs she found also increased. There were so many webs on the walls that they completely covered them. Jennifer made sure to be careful not to trip over any rocks, because she knew from experience that if she somehow fell and landedon the webs, she would never be able to get out.
When Jennifer got close to large, light filled chamber, she heard the hissing sounds of the Spinarak. She stepped quietly as she approached, and saw that the spider pokemon were all gathered around something that was around the corner, in the back of the chamber.
Since non of the Spinarak seemed to be paying attention to what was behind them, Jennifer dared to get closer, and peek around to see what they were focusing on. It wasn't long before Jennifer spotted both of her friends, stuck to webs that covered the far wall, and not moving.
Oh no! Isaac! She thought to herself, barely managing to not say it out loud. Please be ok! Please! I'm coming!
Jennifer was half tempted to just leap over the crowd of Spinarak, and attempt to free her friends and make sure that they were ok. But she knew that it would be a reckless, and stupid move. All that would do is get her caught, and then there would be no hope for any of them.
Suddenly, from a tunnel on the opposite side of the room the Spinarak waited. Jennifer heard an extremely loud screech. It sounded like nails being dragged on a chalk board, only a hundred times louder. Jennifer tried to block out the noise by covering her ears, but the sounds volume combined with her highly developed hearing made the effort futile.
When the sound stopped, the hissing of the Spinarak ceased, making the chamber they waited completely silent. Jennifer looked towards the tunnel the screech had come from, out of it came an Ariados. A very, very big Ariados. Easily a hundred times bigger then the un-evolved Spinarak.
The Ariados walked over towards the web that trapped both Isaac and Regal. Jennifer realized that the Spinarak must had brought Isaac and Regal to the Ariados, which was probably their queen, so that she could feed on them.
Jennifer's heart was beating faster then ever, if she didn't do something quick, Isaac and Regal were going to be eaten.
The first idea that came to Jennifer was to cave in the chamber like Isaac had accidentally done earlier. With the light leaking through, Jennifer figured it would take much for her to cause it to collapse.
She took in a deep breath, calming herself, then ran towards the crown of Spinarak. Just before she reached them, she used her powerful legs to jump towards the ceiling, then kicked it with all the strength she could muster. Once her kick connected, she fell back down, landing hard on one of the Spinarak.
Before any of them could attack, Jennifer, leapt away, back to where she had been hiding previously. The ceiling cracked, then broke away, a large section of it raining down on the spider pokemon below. Not only did the collapsing roof crush most of the Spinarak, it also injured the Ariados who had nearly managed to begin its meal.
The Ariados turned around and screeched at Jennifer, then charged towards her. Jennifer leapt over it, causing the Ariados to run full speed into a wall. While it recovered from the crash, Jennifer jumped up over the Ariados, then delivered a powerful mid-air kick to the head of the beast.
Jennifer thought he attack would have at least stunned the giant spider pokemon, but instead, the Ariados swatted Jennifer with one of its legs, sending her flying across the room, crashing into a section of the roof. Before Jennifer could recover from the sudden attack, the Ariados ran up to her and pinned her against the floor with another one of its legs, and pressed down hard.
Jennifer reached around as her whole body was being crushed, looking for something she could defend herself with. Eventually, she gripped a fist sized stone that would be perfect for throwing. She aimed at the face of the Ariados and tossed the stone as hard as she could.
The rock hit Ariados right in the eye, making it back away, freeing Jennifer, and making it screech and hiss from the pain. Not wanting to risk another close range attack, Jennifer picked up more rocks, and threw them at the Ariados, each one hitting it in different places.
Jennifer thought she had the beast where she wanted it, but the tables turned when Ariados spat out a sticky strand of web as her from its mouth. The web hit her in the foot, and in began to retract, making Jennifer fall to the ground and be dragged towards Ariados.
She continued to pick up rocks as she got closer to the spider, but it just ignored every rock that bounced off of it, determined to finish of its prey once and for all. Jennifer then tried grabbing onto whatever she could, hoping to stop herself, but the stone floor was smooth, giving her nothing to grip onto.
She called out Isaacs name as she was dragged along the floor. Reaching out and looking towards his trapped body.
"Isaac! Wake up! Please!"
But Isaac wasn't about to wake up. Nobody was going to save Jennifer, and if Jennifer couldn't save herself, she, along with her friends, were going to be dinner.
Jennifer tried one last thing, she grabbed a rock with a slight sharp edge to it, and hacked away at the web that stuck to her foot. Even when the rock seemed to do nothing to the web, she continued the to cut away at it.
She was right below the Ariados, and kept swinging the sharpened rock at the web, faster and harder with each swing. The Ariados prepared the spit out even more webbing, which would trap Jennifer for good. Jennifer lifted the rock high over her head, and brought it down with all her might. The rock cut right through, and her foot was free.
The Ariados spat out the web that was going to trap Jennifer, but she managed to roll away at the very last second, causing the web to harmlessly stick to the floor.
Even though Jennifer was free, she was still exhausted from the battle, and didn't know much more she could possibly do to defeat this beastly pokemon. Jennifer's last plan of action was to lead the Ariados away from the chamber, and lose it in the tunnels, only to return here later, free Isaac and Regal, then get out as quickly as possible. She got up, turned away fro the Ariados, and ran down the hall she had originally came from.
Ariados screeched with frustration as its prey escaped, and followed after her.
---
The cave began to grow dark again as Jennifer ran from the Ariados that chased after her. It wasn't long before Jennifer was unable to see very far around her.
Jennifer had never been so exhausted in her life, her entire body cried out for rest, but she kept going, not stopping at all.
While she could no longer see her pursuer, the Ariados wasn't far behind, screeching and hissing as it chased after Jennifer. Even though the tunnels were much smaller then the one Ariados had first came through, back at the chamber Isaac and Regal were, it had no trouble squeezing through the tight passages, barely slowing down.
This can't be real... Jennifer thought to herself as she continued to flee. This is just a dream... A nightmare... I'll wake up any minute now, back up at the surface with Isaac beside me and Plusle in my arms.
Jennifer turned sharply around a corner, then ran as fast as she could and turned another corner. She stopped and stayed as quiet as she could, hoping that she could finally lose this creature long enough for her to double back and free her friends. It seemed to work, as the Ariados took a different turn then she did, and chased after nobody down a different corridor.
She waited, and listened to the sound of Ariados getting farther and farther away. Once she was sure the beast was gone, Jennifer sighed a breath of relief.
"Thought I was a goner for sure..." She said out loud to herself. Jennifer took a moment to rest, catch her breath, and calm down after the terrifying experience of being chased like that. Once she thought she had the energy to find her way back to the chamber, she began to walk, as silently as she possibly could, through the tunnels once again.
It wasn't long before Jennifer a way out, something she didn't want to find yet. That was, until she got an idea. Jennifer remembered that the roof of the Ariados' chamber had caved in, so all Jennifer needed to do was walk outside, find the huge hole in the wasteland that she had made herself, jump in and she would be able to rescue Isaac and Regal.
She did exactly that, she went straight outside, climbing up the tunnel leading out. The fresh air and warm sun felt good, but she focused on the task she planned out. She climbed a rock that was located just outside the cave entrance and scouted out for anything that looked like the cave in. It didn't take long for her to spot the hole.
She jogged over to it, looked down to make sure it was empty, and jumped back inside the cave.
There was no sign of any of the wild pokemon that lived in the cave. No Spinarak swarm, no Ariados, nothing but her, Isaac, Regal and Plusle.
"Wait... Plusle?"
She hadn't noticed the baby pokemon before. She, along with Isaac and Regal, was stuck to the webs that lined the wall. Jennifer figured she didn't notice the first time because her small sized caused Plusle to be obscured by the Spinarak swarm from earlier.
Jennifer got close to everyone, and saw that each one of them was breathing just fine. Everyone was just unconscious.
"Thank goodness... Everyone's safe."
Jennifer grabbed a large, sharp rock, hoping she could use it to eventually get everyone down. She started with Plusle, since her small body meant that there wouldn't be much web needed to cut.
Carefully, Jennifer hacked away at the web, being careful not to accidentally hit anyone, or get stuck to the web. She cut one strand, then two, and soon, Plusle fell free from the web. Jennifer managed to catch her in mid-air.
"Plusle?" She whispered. "Can you hear me?"
Plusle didn't make a sound, nor did she open her eyes. She just laid limp in Jennifers arms, breathing softly. Jennifer noticed two small red marks on Plusles arm, to her, they looked like two bite marks.
"These spiders must have infected everyone with venom, and knocked them out to make them easy to carry away." Jennifer thought out loud. "I hope It wears off quickly."
She gently places Plusle on the ground below her, then picked up the rock she used to cut the webs again. She cut down Regal, then eventually, managed to free Isaac.
Jennifer wondered what to do next. There was no way in a million years she would be able to carry everyone, and Jennifer was not about to leave without everyone. Jennifer decided the best course of action was to carry everyone one at a time out of the cave by jumping out of the cave in hole.
Once again, she started with Plusle, since she was the lightest. She picked her up, and jumped out of the cave, outside to the wasteland, with little effort. Jennifer placed Plusle on the ground, then went back for Regal next.
When she picked up Regal, she thought she heard something. She stopped for a moment and listened closely, but only heard silence. She ignored it, and figured it was just her stressed head playing tricks on her, and proceeded to jump out of the cave with Regal in her arms. After placing him on the ground beside Plusle, she went back to get Isaac.
For the third time, she landed gracefully on the floor of the cave, beside the unconscious Isaac. But something was different, she felt like she wasn't alone.
Hoping that her instincts were wrong, Jennifer turned around. She looked with horror as the Ariados returned to the chamber, squeezing though the passage Jennifer had lead it. It looked at Jennifer, who hovered over what was once its prey, and sounded that familiar, loud, and terrifying screech.
Jennifer's first, natural instinct was to just run. To flee from the creature that was trying so had to make her its dinner. But she couldn't, she couldn't abandon Isaac after all he's done for her, after all she's done to try to save him now.
She stared at the Ariados, the feeling of terror being replace with bravery, and determination.
"I won't leave Isaac." She said to it, not caring that the Ariados probably didn't understand her. "You can't have him! You can't have any of us!"
Jennifer's body began to glow brightly. She didn't notice at first, because she was so focused on the creature that threatened her and her friends. All of the energy she lost in the last fight returned to her, and then some. She quickly grew taller and the shape of her body changing slightly. Jennifer had evolved from Buneary, to a more powerful Lopunny.
The Ariados hardly seemed to care, and charged at Jennifer. Jennifer also ran at the beast, only she was running at a speed even she couldn't believe. When the two got close, Jennifer jumped right at the head of the Ariados, and delivered not one, but a flurry of powerful kicks. When her attack was over, Jennifer jumped off of Ariados' head, back to where she was standing beside Isaac.
Ariados took a few unsteady steps, then fell forward, stirring up dust from the caves floor. The beast didn't move up from where it fell. Jennifer had finally defeated it, all by herself.
Jennifer didn't take any time to celebrate her victory, instead she leaned down to pick up Isaac, then jumped out of the cave.
---
Not yet used to how much more powerful she was, she had leapt at least twenty feet into the air past the cave in hole. Jennifer was almost frightened by how high she had jumped upwards.
Despite the unexpected leap, she managed to make a graceful landing. She carried Isaac over to where she had left Regal and Plusle, and placed him on the ground. She kneeled beside him, and shook his body gently.
"Isaac." She said to him. Her voice had changed by the evolution, sounding more mature. "Isaac. Wake up!"
She called out his name, and shook his body to wake him. Eventually, Isaac opened his eyes, and looked at her.
"Huh... Who?"
"It's me. It's Jennifer."
"Jennifer? Wow, you evolved... Just like me... That's... Uhhhhh..."
"Huh? What's wrong Isaac."
Isaac stood up, grabbed his stomach and wobbled slightly. "I don't feel so good..."
"I know. You were poisoned by those things down there." She went over to him, and reached inside the bag that was slung over his shoulder, she pulled out three small pink berries. "Here, eat these, they'll make you feel better."
Isaac took one of the berries, looked at it, then reluctantly popped it into his mouth. "... Eww... These things are disgusting..."
"Really, I like the taste of them." Jennifer remembered her mother giving her one of the Pecha Berries when she had food poisoning. It tasted to her like a sweet, delicious pastry.
"I never liked sweet foods... Ahhhhh... But I do feel a lot better.... Whew, thanks for everything Jennifer."
"I just did what you would have done in the same situation. I would never abandon you or any of the others, especially not to be the meal of some wild pokemon."
"I can't believe you've evolved!" He said excitedly. " I'm so happy for you!"
"Yeah, what a great feeling it was! I felt so much stronger, and... It's just an unbelievable feeling." Jennifer smiled. "Come on, lets wake the others."
"Right, we still have to get to Havok City." Said Isaac, remembering their goal before losing Plusle in the cave.
Isaac went over to Regal and poked him with his foot. "Come on Regal, wake up." Regal didn't move or make a sound, he just laid there like he was asleep.
Isaac spit out a small stream of bubbles at Regal, which splashed on his face. Regal got up instantly, coughing and sputtering. "What's going on?!" He yelled upon waking, then he looked up at Isaac. "Oh, did I sleep in?"
"Don't you remember? We went into the cave and got caught by those Spinarak pokemon." Asked Isaac.
"Oh... I thought that was just a dream. That actually happened then?"
"Yup, it did. Here." Isaac threw one of the other Pecha Berries at him. "Eat that, you'll feel better."
Regal obeyed, and threw the berry into him mouth. He quickly chewed on it and swallowed it down. "Wait, where is Plusle?"
"I have her." Said Jennifer, who had Plusle cradled in her arms. "She's fine, I've already given her the berry so she should be ok."
"Jennifer? You evolved too? Wonderful!"
"Yeah." Said Isaac. "But lets save the celebrations for when we get back to Havok City and after we tell the Brotherhood that Lloyd and the others are missing."
Isaac began to walk towards the direction of Havok City. Jennifer followed with Regal beside her.
"Do you want me to take Plusle off your hands?" Regal asked as they went along.
"No, that's fine. I'll take care of her, you just relax."
"Alright then."
With the sand of the wasteland finally dry, it wouldn't take Team Valiant to long to reach Havok City. Soon they would be able to surprise the Brotherhood with the news of not one, but two of their members evolutions, and pass on the news of the other, disappeared members, and hopefully get help in finding them.
---
And thus ends one of the longest written documents I've ever written in such a short amount of time.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I, and those helping me, will be working hard to finish this story soon. Enjoy, and remember to post reviews.