Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, its world or characters. Only the story and original characters herein.
Chapter Seven
He waited at the door for her, the same door the other man, Nate, left through, and her curiosity peaked. There was an eagerness to her step as they went through the door, Smoke ever present at her side, and she had to admit a bit of disappointment at finding herself in the entryway of a basic house.
He must've seen her expression when he opened the front door for her. "I think out here will be more what you were expecting." She glanced at him before stepping out, wondering if he was just hyping it all up to make it more impressive. As her eyes took it all in, her mouth fell open.
Turned out he wasn't.
Buildings spread out before her, an entire city that dwarfed Pewter in scale. Stone outcrops replaced grass lawns and a ceiling of stone hung overhead in place of the sky, but otherwise she could've been staring out over Celadon - minus the skyscrapers. The structures there had multiple floors but also had a clear limit above them. It made the sight no less impressive though, and seeing the sprawling cavern surrounding it all somehow made it more so. Stalactites created a scenery no city above ground could match.
"Yeah, that's the reaction most people have down here," Slate's voice broke through her awe as he stepped out beside her.
"What is all this?"
"All this is New Pewter." Her brow went up as she turned to him and he smirked. "We try to keep things simple around here."
"Simple." She glanced back to the massive underground city. "Right." She could only shake her head at it all as he waved her forward and her tour began. It explained a lot about the Pewter above ground though. The city hadn't grown since its days over a century past. Everyone believed it was because of what Team Rocket did to the small town, but in reality it was just because everything moved underground.
Lyss frowned then, barely hearing Slate as he introduced her to yet another citizen of their hidden city - a school teacher or something she thought he said. "Wait wait wait," she said, cutting off his description of whatever new building they'd just come up to, "why're you doing this?"
He gained a tone of forced patience as he said, "I told you, you wanted answers, and this is the best place to start."
"No, not that. I mean all of you, living down here." Smoke growled as a swarm of Zubat's zipped by overhead and she reached a calming hand down to his fur. Calming for him or her, she wasn't sure. She hadn't seen that many wild pokemon together in... ever. She'd been saying something though, and she shook her head. "You have a city up there already, and plenty of land. Why hide down here?"
His answer didn't come right away, and his silence irritated her. He was hiding something, there was no doubt of that. In fact, the whole city was probably hiding the same thing. They passed more of the city in silence, absent his tour guide theatrics, and while it might've been normal up under the open sky, down there in those caves the silence was overbearing. How far had they come down anyway? It hadn't seemed far at the time, but there was so much space there, and the roof had to be thick to stay up. Tons and tons of stone hovering overhead...
He could say just about anything to her then and she'd take it, just so long as he took her mind off the situation.
As if sensing her thoughts, he spoke up. "How much did Carson tell you about us?"
She tensed at his choice or words - us, not him. "Nothing," she said, suspicious.
"Really?" he asked with blatant surprise. "He never even mentioned me or Rising Fire?" Lyss' blank stare must've answered the question, because Slate sighed and went on. "The man knew how to keep a secret."
"Enough," she growled, beyond frustrated. "You keep dancing around everything, building up whatever you're keeping from me to be some giant, life changing secret, and I've had it. Tell me what's going on!" Her chest heaved with pent up emotion, and though she hadn't quite yelled the last bit, her words still echoed around the cavern.
He held his hands up in a placating manner. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm afraid I have something of a flair for the dramatic, or so I'm told." At her deadpan expression, a smile tugged at his lips before he took a deep breath. "Rising Fire is an organization with the singular goal of overthrowing Team Rocket. I'm its leader."
She couldn't help herself as she stared at the man. It was such an outrageous thing to say, an unbelievable concept. To bring down Team Rocket would be - "Are you insane?" she snapped, her sense of reality cutting her imagination off short. "You can't stop Team Rocket, nobody can. You're risking this whole town on this stupidity!"
Slate's mouth twitched again. "Says the girl who so recently stood up to them."
Her lips pressed into a thin line. "And look where that got me? I was thrown in jail and barely escaped. I had to leave my home and now I've got Team Rocket after me."
"But you'd do it again, wouldn't you?"
Would she? She turned away and kicked at a rock along the path. The small stone went skipping off over the uneven ground before it rebounded off into the darkness. That was kind of how she felt, just rolling along when one little bump derailed her life. Was she worse off though? She wasn't in love with her life before, but at least she knew what she was doing.
Smoke bumped against her and she leaned down to scratch at his fur. Come to think of it, the encounter with Team Rocket wasn't the first time she'd stuck her neck out or some random pokemon. She'd done much the same thing when she rescued Smoke years back. She didn't regret it, either time.
"I guess I would."
"That's why we're fighting Team Rocket," he said, a certain satisfaction in his voice. "Because people like you believe it's the right thing to do."
She still thought it was foolish. "I've never heard of you though. Surely the things you do would get out."
"Secrecy has been vital." The warmth bled out of his tone as he went on. "Team Rocket doesn't hesitate to crush even the smallest hope of rebellion, and they'd do the same to us. We recruit only with extreme caution, and that's even more true if we actively go against them."
"So you haven't really done anything against them is what you mean."
Slate grimaced. "Not so much as we'd like, no."
"We could though!" the new voice brought Lyss around in surprise. She recognized the man from before though, Nate. "If you weren't so blasted timid!"
"Enough, Nate. I told you we'd talk about this more later."
Nate snorted. "After you've gotten your new pet stuffed safely away?" His eyes were on her, and Lyss' anger jumped when she realized he was referring to her. "You even know why you're here, pet?"
Smoke growled, deep and loud, but Slate stepped in before she could respond. "Nate, stop."
"She's got a Flareon, Slate! An honest to gods Flareon!"
"It doesn't matter. She's-"
"Will you both stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Lyss snapped, her words crashing through their argument. The pair went silent, but while Slate continued to glare at the man, Nate kept his eyes on her. It was unnerving. She stared right back. "What do you want from me, Nate?"
"Lyss," Slate cut in, "now's not the time-"
"No. I want to know."
Nate's dark chuckle carried through the air. "Maybe you're not just a pet, eh? You interested in actually doing something to help then?"
Responses raced through her head, filled with sarcasm and scathing remarks. She didn't like the man, his attitude in particular, but he hadn't given her any reason to distrust him yet. Maybe he'd even give her a straight answer. So she swallowed back everything she wanted to say, instead giving a simple, "Yes."
Nate's grin widened. "Enough to break into a Team Rocket base?"
"Nate," Slate stepped in while she was still registering the question, "we haven't even decided if we're going to go through with that."
"You know the rest'll fold. We've never had a chance like this before!"
"It's a chance, yes - a chance to lose everything!"
Lyss' head hurt just from listening to the two. They bickered like children, but the gist of it was clear: something big was about to go down. Nate wanted her involved, but it didn't seem like Slate did. That didn't make any sense though. "Stop chattering like a pair of Mankey's you two!" That was the second time she'd come between the two. She was already getting tired of it. "Slate," she started, bringing his attention back to her, "you're the one who's been trying to get me to stay here in the first place. Why wouldn't you want me involved?"
"I do want you involved," he assured her, "but safely. There's no need for you to go out there and put yourself at risk. There's plenty you can do just being here."
Her temper jumped a notch. "What am I supposed to do if I can't help against Team Rocket? Sit around town so everyone can stare at the Waterflower girl? I'm not going to be some pretty figurehead for you to flash around!"
Nate chuckled from the sidelines. "Not the tame house Skitty you were expecting, eh Slate?"
Slate flashed the man a warning glare before turning back to her with a less obvious expression. Frustration, she imagined. "I appreciate your drive to help, Lyss, but you have to understand. The Waterflower's have been fighting Team Rocket for generations. Everyone knows of them. Having you on their side-"
"All the more reason I should be doing the same," she cut in. "Fighting Team Rocket. Not just sitting here."
Slate dragged a hand across his forehead, sighing. "I'll talk to the others about it. Do you want me to show you back to the house in the meantime?"
"No," she said, a little sharper then she'd intended. She took a deep breath before continuing in a softer tone. "I can find my way back, but I'd like to look around more."
"Alright," he nodded. "We'll find you later then.
"Come on, Nate." Slate threw the man an annoyed look. "You'll want to be involved in this, I'm sure." The other man smirked but said nothing, joining Slate as they walked off and left Lyss alone.
She took another deep breath - she was in it now, whatever it was. Part of her wondered why she cared or bothered, but she was excited too, to be part of whatever anti-Team Rocket things these people had going. Lyss never liked Team Rocket, though that wasn't saying much, as not many did. Most accepted their rule as a way of life though, and it was weird to be there in a place that opposed it.
Smoke bumped against her and yipped. He was antsy to move, she could tell, and she didn't blame him. The underground city was silent for its size. Did they fear wild pokemon down there in the cave depths? Or was the outside world beneath the ground just not appealing like the open air above, so they all stayed inside? Only one way to find out, and she was curious to meet the people that lived there. They couldn't all be like Slate, but they were all rebels.
She wandered through the unfamiliar streets, the uneven ground making even that a different experience. Smoke stayed out at her side, rather then riding in her bag, and enjoyed it from what she could tell. She wasn't worried that anyone would turn her into Team Rocket for having an illegal pokemon after all, and in fact he wasn't the only one around. The Zubat from before were clearly wild, but those she saw now scurried among, and through, the houses with a familiarity and lack of fear or aggression that she'd never seen before.
As she looked on, a Sandshrew ran up to them. It stopped just out of arms reach and crept up from there, its little nose sniffing the air around them. Lyss couldn't help the smile that pulled at her lips as she watched, though Smoke just stared at the little creature. It grew bolder as the seconds passed, scooting right up to Smoke's feet before the Flareon rumbled a low growl. The pokemon bolted at the sound, disappearing among the buildings.
Lyss scratched at Smoke's ears. "It was just trying to be friendly," she said, though she couldn't bring herself to scold him. For his part, Smoke just acted like nothing happened - he'd made his point. Lyss rolled her eyes. "Come on, you anti-social thing, let's find some food."
That perked his ears up, and she laughed as he trotted beside her.
A/N: I generally try to keep chapters around 3000 words, but I write the story all at once, without breaks. Finding good points to separate it all has left many of the chapters shorter. They'll keep coming though, don't worry!