As Jack walked closer and closer to Mount Moon he began to realise how enormous and extensive it was. Mount Moon was part of a huge mountain range that made up the backbone of the Kanto region. Most of the peaks rose through clouds like titans trying to capture Rayquaza, the great dragon in the sky. The peaks that didn't penetrate the clouds all came close and the whole landscape seemed like it was drawn by an artist, it was a towering, majestic tableau.
There were no more trainers here, the increasing uneven and rocky ground did not make a desirable place to train your Pokémon. Even the Spearow stuck to flatter ground - the only Pokémon that lived up here were the hardy rock Pokémon Geodude. They were hard to find, hard to kill and not worth the effort.
Jack was breathing heavily by the time he reached the Pokémon centre – its slate grey metal walls and gleaming windows at odds with the natural glory of its surroundings. He dropped off his Pokémon with Nurse Joy and sat down at one of the comfortable red armchairs set up cosily in the corner, the springs creaking as the chair welcomingly enveloped his body. 'So we meet again young Jack,' Giovanni was sitting at in the chair next to him.
He hadn't been there when Jack sat down. The man stretched out his broad soldiers before turning and fixing Jack with an intense stare. 'I've come to give you a warning. Be careful in Mount Moon. There are huge wheels set in motion there. Dangerous wheels. Keep your Pokémon out and your wits about you or you could get hurt. If you see anyone dressed in leather with an 'R' on their chest stay away! It is very important that you stay away!'
The speech was full of earnest warning and Jack could see that the man wasn't lying. 'OK. I will be careful.' Jack was a bit confused but decided to comply with the strange man's warning. There was something in that speech that struck a chord inside of him. 'Thanks for the warning Giovanni.' The man nodded and lay back in the chair, relaxing nonchalantly as if his impassioned speech had never happened.
Jack walked through the entrance of Mount Moon – a long, dim tunnel that had been shoddily hewn into the mountain – and stepped out into the greatest natural phenomenon in Kanto. The whole mountain range of Mount Moon was completely hollow, apart from about ten metres of stone around the edges.
It was vast, the top was so high that it was shrouded in a swirling mass of shadows, and full of smooth ledges joined together by precarious arches of limestone worn smooth by the insistent dripping of clear mountain water. Flocks of Zubat congregated in the shadowy niches that peppered the mountain walls led by the occasional menacing Golbat which glided silently through the air above.
bounced across the floor, black tipped ears waving enthusiastically. If they saw anyone looking they would disappear as quickly as they appeared – their appearances were always fleeting.
Trainers were scattered around the inside of Mount Moon, surprisingly many for a space that was relatively small in trainer terms. Groans and screams accompanied by bright flashes of light echoed round Mount Moon as hard fought battles began and ended in dramatic fashion. Jack decided to keep a low profile, remembering Giovanni's advice, and avoid trainer battles.
Creeping stealthily in the shadows he began to navigate his way through the naturally twisted, several-tiered maze that was the inside of Mount Moon. After nearly half an hour of walking Jack walked straight into the middle of a battle between two trainers.
A Zubat passed low over his head, so low that he could feel the air being pressed onto his head by the Pokémon's leathery wings. The Zubat crashed into a white tufted egg-shaped Pokémon holding an oval shaped egg in a stretchy pouch of skin on its stomach.
The Zubat bounced off, its attack seeming to do no damage whatsoever. The egg Pokémon seemed to be completely unconcerned and began playing with the egg in its pouch. 'Zubat, use bite!' At the order from its trainer the Zubat bit down on the egg Pokémon with needle-like fangs and began to drain blood. Still unconcerned the egg Pokémon shook of the Zubat and began to eat the egg.
Instead of a shell the egg was made out of a soft, leathery membrane which was easily pierced so the nutrients within could be harvested. As the Pokémon ate the egg from its pouch it began to heal. When it had fully healed the Pokémon concentrated, looking at the egg with frightening intensity. A rotten stench began to waft out from the egg as it began to go rotten, the membrane and the insides blackening.
Taking the rotten egg the pink Pokémon hurled it as far as its tiny arms could throw, and watched in satisfaction as the egg exploded over the Zubat. The bedraggled creature began to wine pitifully as the acidic juices excreted by the egg began to corrode its flesh. Jack started as he took a good look at the trainer commanding the Zubat. It was the same man who had viciously attacked the Dratini in Viridian Forest.
He was still looking noticeably worse for wear, a bandage was wrapped tightly round his rips and he limped slightly as he moved around. 'You!' the hatred in his voice was frightening, the man seemed to have completely forgetting about the battle he was fighting. With no orders forthcoming the Zubat began to fly around in circles, its path becoming increasingly erratic until he finally managed to shake off the last droplet of the acidic juice.
'You!' he began to advance towards Jack, fists clenched, 'I'm going to kill you. You humiliated me and you are going to pay!'
He began to walk faster and faster towards Jack, eyes radiating malice. Jack stopped retreating and released Dante in front of him. 'Whoa, hold up there. You remember what happened last time don't you?' At that threat the man stopped and absently rubbed the bandages on his ribs. 'Ah,' Jack smiled even though inside he was quaking, 'I see you do.'
The man fought with himself, the veins either side of his neck stood out in high relief and the tendons on the back of his hands formed ridges as he clenched his fists. Sense seemed to win over as he retreated, 'I will finish this battle,' he said quietly, venomously, 'then I will finish you. Zubat, leech life.' For the first time the other trainer, a girl with brown hair braided with colourful beads and a short skirt, spoke, 'Blissey use double edge to take out that bloodsucker.'
The Blissey nodded and began to waddle on its tiny legs towards the Zubat. When it was about two metres away it launched itself into the air and smashed hard into the little bat.
It hardly lost any momentum and crushed the Zubat into the floor on the way down. It smashed into the ground with some force, sending tremors rocketing through the ground, shattering any stalagmites unlucky enough to be caught in the radius. Slowly the Blissey got to its feet and tottered back from the whole, it was covered in a number of superficial cuts and bruises and seemed very weak.
Even though it was in the middle of the battle it sat down on the floor and began to eat its egg again, sighing contentedly as it began to heal. The Zubat tried to heave itself out of the hole and continue the battle, but after the impact it was little more than a bag of broken bones held loosely together by skin and all it could do was moan piteously.
The trainer recalled it with disgust and sent out its Raticate. The Pokémon looked meaner and burlier than ever and bared its long teeth and that seated Blissey.
Jack stepped in to intervene but was waved away by the girl, 'I can handle this grunt,' she said whilst smiling sweetly to her opponent. 'Come back Blissey. Go Shuckle.' Her new Pokémon seemed even less lethal than its predecessor. It was a floppy yellow creature, seemingly devoid of muscles, encased in a ceramic looking red shell. It looked balefully at the Raticate and stuck out a thin tongue that was as floppy as its limbs.
The leather clad trainer looked at the Pokémon he was facing in disbelief, 'Raticate, rip this pathetic loser to shreds.' The Raticate nodded and charged towards the Shuckle, teeth bared in a deadly smile. The Shuckle didn't even bother to move. When the Raticate was merely a metre away the girl gave an order, 'Shuckle use bide.' The Shuckle immediately withdrew its whole body inside its shell, only its eyes could be seen, seemingly unconcerned.
The Raticate hit the Shuckle with its shoulder at full speed, fully expecting to make a sizeable dent in its shell. It hit the Shuckle and bounced straight off, leaving not a scratch on its smooth shell. It shook itself and bit down on its opponent but its teeth could get no purchase – they just slid off the smooth shell without doing any damage. The girl laughed.
'Do you know what you're facing? I don't think so. Shuckle has the highest defence and special defence of all known Pokémon. It makes an Aggron look soft. You won't even make a dent in it.' Her opponent gritted his teeth, 'we'll see about that.'
Jack watched in growing admiration as for the next half an hour as the Shuckle took every attack that the Raticate threw at it without being hurt. The Raticate couldn't even move it. Suddenly the Shuckle exploded out of its shell and hit the Raticate with a floppy hand. The Raticate was sent spiralling through the air to land heavily on the floor with a sickening crunch.
The girl laughed again and affectionately praised her Pokémon, 'great bide attack Shuckle. You know what to do next. Power Trick.' The Shuckle nodded and began to shuffle towards the heavily injured Raticate. When it was closer it began to briefly glow as a strange psychic power surrounded its body. 'Now Shuckle, use pound.' The Shuckle rose in the air ready to bring its boneless limbs onto the Raticate's head.
'Quick Raticate, dodge with quick attack.' Painfully it nodded and just managed to avoid the blow. The blow smashed into the ground with such tremendous force that a ground shaking shockwave exploded from the point of contact.
The man gasped as the girl giggled uncontrollably. 'Now you might have guessed that Shuckle has an incredibly weak attack but an incredible defence. I just swapped the round and now Shuckle has the most powerful attack of all the Pokémon. One hit and your Pokémon,' she slapped her hands together, 'will go splat! Shuckle, use pound again.'
Slowly the Shuckle lumbered around to begin another attack. Both of the trainers were smiling now and Jack gasped as he realised the flaw on the girl's plans. He knew what was coming next. 'Raticate, use quick attack!' In a last gasp attempt to win the battle the Raticate dug into strength reserves it didn't know it had and smashed into the Shuckle.
The effect was devastating. Its shell cracked like an egg from the impact and the Shuckle was flung through the air to land with an audible slap on the ground, a sound akin to a wet cloth being slapped hard onto a tabletop, completely thrown from its shell. The girl's eyes widened with fear as she recalled her Pokémon. It was her last one. The other trainer cracked his knuckles menacingly, 'so you're out of Pokémon. I can do whatever I want to do....'
His eyes were alight with sadistic glee. Jack couldn't take any more of it. He stepped between the two trainers. 'You'll have to get through me and my Pokémon.'
Dante emphasised his point with a low growl filled with anger and threat. 'I'm really starting to hate you kid.' The man's voice was unnaturally calm. 'And one day I will make you pay. I will enjoy it.' He turned and ran away but Jack could still feel the man's intense stare lingering on him even after he had gone.
'Thank you very much,' the girl had sidled up to him, green eyes filled with gratitude. 'I thought I was a goner there.' Jack shook his head modestly, 'don't worry. I thought you were doing fine. You had him on the run.' She smiled ruefully, shaking her head, her multicoloured beads clicking together as she did so. 'So did I. I forgot that when Shuckle gets a really powerful attack she always gets a really weak defence. It cost me.'
Up close Jack could see that she was shaking. Putting on a brave face she hold out her hand, nails painted in an elegant shade of red, 'I'm Kayla. Kayla Silph.' Her voice tailed off and she looked to be thinking hard. 'Please tell me what I can do to make this up to you,' she said finally after a good minute of thinking, 'I fell indebted.'
Jack waved away the offer, 'don't worry about it. I have met that bastard before and we didn't really leave on good terms. I was happy to stop him.'
The girl shook her head at his modesty, muttering something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, 'honestly...men and their pride!' With a triumphant exclamation she pulled out a blue and purple Pokéball with a large 'M' drawn on in white. 'This is a very special Pokéball. It is a prototype, a one off and was given to me by my dad, the President of Silph Co. It is a maser ball. It can capture any Pokémon, however large or strong they are and they will not escape.'
he held it out to him, 'take it. It is the least I can do.' Jack took the Pokéball with reverence and carefully stored it at the bottom of his back. 'Thank you so much. It is a great gift.' The girl began to giggle and pushed him playfully, 'why so formal?' As Jack struggled to formulate an answer she shoved him again, 'cat got your tongue? Come with me, I know a quick way out of here.'
Jack followed Kayla through the mass of dank tunnels that made up the bottom levels of Mount Moon. They were inhospitable places, the dampness meaning that slimy moulds covered the walls in a disgusting, mucus-like membrane. After five minutes of walking Jack stopped memorising the way. After ten minutes he was completely lost. If he hadn't been following Kayla he was sure that he would never have been able to get out.
When they passed the slime covered bones of a long dead human Jack was sure that if they got lost they would die down here, in the inhospitable bowels of the mountain. Kayla was unconcerned, skipping over the bones as if they weren't there with a smile on her face the whole time. Jack couldn't help but notice that she was more than pretty.
After nearly half an hour of walking Kayla stopped and pointed ahead. A wall, smooth except for a small crack, rose high in front of them. She was pointing into the crack. 'I'll go first. Stay close behind me and don't take a wrong turning.' Jack grabbed her shoulder and spun her around, 'are you crazy?' His voice sounded slightly hysterical even to him, 'we can't go in there! What if we get stuck? No-one will find us. We'll die in our own coffins.'
He began to breathe heavily as claustrophobia began to grip his mind. Kayla looked at him oddly, 'don't worry. It's more than wide enough. Follow me.' She plunged into the whole and was immediately swallowed in darkness. Jack stared until Kayla's voice reached him, 'well what are you waiting for? Come on.'
To his surprise the crack wasn't too small. He had about ten centimetres of space either side of his shoulders and nearly a foot of space above his head. He crawled after the quickly receding figure of Kayla, dragging his knees along the rocky floor and cutting them in the process. The crack began to slowly but surely get narrower until the sides of the walls grazed Jack's shoulders. He was panting now, struggling to master his fear.
Kayla was far in front of him, he could only see a glimpse of her back in the almost complete darkness of the tunnel. Jack dragged himself along faster, gripping the sharp rocks in front of him to pull himself forward. Suddenly Kayla disappeared round a bend and Jack nearly went crazy with panic. He stopped and took deep breaths, calming himself.
Slowly he began to struggle through the now uncomfortably tight tunnel, methodically pulling himself along. He turned the corner and fell out of the tunnel onto soft grass. Bright light assaulted his eyes but he didn't care. Jack lay spread-eagled on the floor until a sharp kick in the side snapped him up. 'Don't be such a baby,' she admonished, hauling him up.
This girl confused him greatly, one moment she seemed warm and comforting, the next cold and distant. She backed up his point by suddenly hugging him, pressing her body into his, 'thank you. I'm off now. I'll put in a good word about you to my dad. He's pretty powerful and he could be a very good friend to have for a young Pokémon trainer.' Then she was gone, skipping off down the grassy hill towards Celadon City, as if she hadn't a care in the world.
Jack watched her go with a bemused expression on his face before slowly traipsing down after her, mind full of questions and thoughts about a green-eyed, brown-haired girl with beaded hair and such unique Pokémon.