Chapter Seventeen
An Unlikely Duo
Under the stifling heat of the midday sun, a wholly perplexed and restless Ivy found herself standing outside the mouth of the Rock Tunnel, Robert standing calmly a few paces away from her. Ivy was trembling a little in worried anticipation at the thought of what was ahead of her, feeling tense and apprehensive to be entering Rock Tunnel again. Robert however, seemed nonchalant as he always did and just the sheer sight of his composed demeanour made Ivy feel even more anxious, the memories of his outburst over breakfast still alarmingly fresh in her mind. For a trainer as strong and powerful as Robert to be concerned about something dangerous in Rock Tunnel, she knew he must be serious, even if he wasn't currently betraying any emotion.
She took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, but her mind wouldn't be stilled. Standing outside the towering and intimidating mouth of Rock Tunnel with the knowledge that something very dangerous was lurking in there made her wish, and not for the first time that morning, that Sebastian and Jack would be accompanying them. Not just for the extra protection that Sebastian could provide, and that special brand of reassurance that only Jack could give, but because she was still inherently nervous of being alone with Robert. Although she felt she knew the young man well enough now, she still remained unsure if she had even warmed remotely to him, let alone trust him enough in such a risky situation. She found herself cursing Sebastian's decision to go and order an, albeit much-needed, new Pokedex at the local Pokemart and Jack's decision to head south from Lavender to test out Kaa and Phoenix on some local trainers. She wasn't entirely comfortable being alone with Robert and she let out a juddering sigh into the silence, finding a little shiver tremble over her spine despite the pleasant afternoon heat.
Eventually, Ivy summoned enough courage to speak, the silence finally getting the better of her. "R…Robert?"
"What?" Robert replied curtly.
Ivy winced at his tone, mentally kicking herself for daring to hope that Robert's good mood and that tiny little glimpse of humanity he had demonstrated earlier would have stuck around. She swallowed back her nerves and pushed forward her question all the same. "What… what exactly is in Rock Tunnel?"
"Cubone, hopefully." Robert replied flatly.
Ivy grimaced. "That's… that's not what I meant. What's the dangerous thing in there?"
There was a long silence. Ivy wished Robert didn't have his back to her; she wanted to see his face in the hope of more accurately judging what was going on with him. He spoke after a few moments, his voice still rather monotonous. "You don't want to know," he stated, quite bluntly.
"Yes, I do!" she said at once.
"Ivy, you're the girl who got scared by a group of Pidgey," Robert deadpanned as he turned around, his tiny eyes narrowing even further. "If I tell you what's in there, you won't want to go in there."
"It wasn't just me who was scared of the Pidgey," Ivy muttered traitorously. "Sebastian was too…"
"Whatever," Robert said, shrugging his shoulders stiffly.
"So, you're not gonna tell me?"
"No."
"Why not!?"
"Because you won't go in there."
"But I need to go in there!" Ivy wheedled, fighting the urge to stamp her foot. "And I'd rather know what I was up against!"
"Even if you knew what you were up against, it wouldn't make the difference. I'm the one who's gonna be fighting it off."
Ivy let out an exasperated moan. "Robert! Tell me!"
"No," he said, quite firmly. "Your pleading and badgering may work with Jack, but not with me."
Ivy floundered for a moment, trying to think of some witty retort to respond with. After a few minutes, it was evident she couldn't come up with anything and instead resorted to simply saying "You're so mean!"
"I've been called worse." He deflected expertly and with another casual shrug. "Now, are you coming?"
"Huh?" Ivy asked dumbly, having been momentarily distracted at the side of a flock of Pidgeotto flying overhead.
"I swear," Robert muttered darkly under his breath. "Are you coming?" he repeated, sounding agitated and with an impatient wave of his hand. "You know, into Rock Tunnel? You want that Cubone or not?"
"Ah… of course…"
She trotted up to stand next to Robert and looked up to him inquisitively. She licked her lips and then tilted her head slightly to one side in a manner that reminded Robert of a baby Growlithe. "Robert, can I ask you a question?"
"Ugh," Robert said, looking back at Ivy and grimacing as if he was in pain. "I hate that…"
Ivy frowned. "Huh? Hate what?"
"'Can I ask you a question?'" Robert quoted. "But that already is a question. So what you really want to say is 'Can I ask you two questions?'"
Ivy blinked slowly, not getting it. "Wha…?"
"Oh never mind."
Ivy looked back at him dumbly, completely oblivious, before pressing on regardless. "You think we will find that Cubone?"
"Well, we'll have to, won't we? Otherwise it won't be looking good for you,"
Ivy recoiled a little, not liking his blunt and to-the-point replies. "That's… not the answer I was hoping for," she admitted nervously.
"I'm not here to please you, Ivy. I'm here to be truthful."
"And… protect me from whatever's in there? R…right?"
Robert rolled his eyes. "Oh, I suppose so," he muttered under his breath, before quickly becoming official again. "Come on. We should get going."
And with that, he swept past Ivy and headed towards the mouth of Rock Tunnel, unearthing a powerful torch from somewhere deep within his bag and switching it on as he began walking. Ivy squeaked as he moved away and quickly followed suit in fear of being left behind. As they were enveloped into the shadowy darkness like they had just been draped in a thick cloak, Ivy was glad of the strong beam of light from the torch. It sent a powerful golden illumination bouncing off the cave walls and the two young adults were able to travel comfortably, avoiding many hidden potholes and loose rocks that would have otherwise tripped them up.
They walked in silence for some time. Although Robert moved swiftly and calmly through the shadowy tunnels and giving the impression nothing was wrong, he was alert all the time, his eyes scrutinising every inch and detail of the surroundings he could pick out. He swung the powerful beam of light back and forth, his ears keenly tuned into every footstep and noise that echoed around them. He would never admit to Ivy, who was following along quickly and nervously, that he also was a little fearful of what he knew to lurk within the depths of the Rock Tunnel. He hoped that they would be able to find what they came in for and get out as quickly and painlessly as humanly possible.
"Where are all the Cubone...?" Ivy ventured after a solid ten minutes of walking.
"Quiet!" Robert hissed in indignation at the sudden invasion of Ivy's alarmingly loud voice.
Ivy squeaked out a soft apology before asking again, this time managing to lower her voice.
"They'll likely be further in," Robert said decisively, also keeping his voice down to a low whisper. "They're shy Pokemon and quite rare. We need to be very quiet." He said the last bit pointedly, glaring at Ivy in the hope she would take his hint.
"Sorry!" Ivy whispered. "I… I'll be quiet."
But seconds later, despite her resolve to be quiet, she couldn't help but speak up again. "Are you ever gonna tell me what's in here?"
Robert let out a haughty sigh. "Ivy..." He said warningly.
"It can't be that bad! S...surely?" She asked, her voice trailing away as she remembered the terrifying silhouette of whatever it was that had attacked her the previous day. She shuddered violently as she remembered how it had given chase relentlessly, her palms grew sweaty and her heart began to beat fast in her chest again.
"Just... just pray we don't run into it again..." Robert said, swinging the torch around to illuminate a small clearing they had just entered. "Hmm... Which way...?" He mused out loud, looking down the two separate tunnels facing them.
"Left?" Ivy suggested.
Robert rolled his eyes at Ivy's proposition and replied by immediately stalking down the tunnel to the right. Ivy blinked in confusion as Robert moved away, ignoring what she had said. "I thought I said left…?" she thought to herself. "Ah, he must not have heard me," She decided, before quickly jogging behind him to catch up.
They progressed steadily deeper, Robert keeping himself a steady few paces ahead of Ivy the whole time. While Ivy was quite glad of not coming across any Pokemon the further they delved into the tunnel, Robert was becoming increasingly concerned by this. There wasn't even so much as a single Zubat, a common sight in caves and tunnels. He bit his lip with worry. He didn't like this. Normally places like the Rock Tunnel would be overrun with irritating pests like Zubat and whatever other Pokemon were native to them, so the notion of something as vast and sprawling as Rock Tunnel being devoid of any life whatsoever had sent alarm bells ringing at the back of his mind.
"What's going on…?" he thought to himself, drawing the torch beam across the surrounding tunnel walls, his eyes peeled for anything that would indicate Pokemon had been through there recently. "Where are the Pokemon…?"
They stepped out into another chamber, this one huge with a towering, curved alcove and which branched into several further smaller tunnels. As they entered the new chamber, Robert caught the noise of a low, deep grunt coming from somewhere to their left. He froze and then caught sight of a huge, lumbering, shadowy form lurking at the mouth of the tunnel to the extreme left. He swore, caught off guard at the presence of the figure, and as he spoke, the silhouette suddenly twitched violently. Robert flashed the torch upwards and, bathed in the blindingly bright light, Ivy finally recognised what was standing only metres away from her. It was a Kangaskhan.
"A Kangaskhan...?" Ivy murmured in confusion, feeling distinctly under-whelmed by what she was seeing.
But Robert was looking horrified and his hand instantly flew to the Pokeballs at his waist. "Ivy..." He said cautiously, his voice tinged with an uncharacteristic stroke of panic. "Listen to me. If I tell you to run, you run. You got that?"
"But it's just a Kangaskhan!" Ivy cried. "They're supposed to be kind and gentle in the wild, aren't they? They're mothers!"
"Ivy, look again!" Robert cried out, bringing the torch down so that the beam illuminated the lower half of the Kangaskhan's body.
Ivy wasn't at all sure of what she was looking for at first that would give Robert such a cause for panic, but a shock of horrified realisation shot through her when her eyes finally touched upon the Kangaskhan's pouch.
There was no baby Kangaskhan.
"Ivy, run!"
Ivy barely had the time to process what she had just seen when a hand closed tightly around her wrist and she was pulled sharply to the side. Seconds later, an almighty crash reverberated through the entire tunnel as the Kangaskhan bodily tackled the tunnel wall, missing the two young adults by mere centimetres. Ivy let out a scream of fear, her legs suddenly jelly-like and useless. Robert yanked on her again and she stumbled, almost falling, but was somehow able to right herself again. The irate Kangaskhan suddenly turned on them, grunting and snorting viciously, looking like it was going to charge them again.
"Get behind me!" Robert barked, violently pushing Ivy behind him with such force he almost knocked her over. His hand flew to his belt and he pulled out a Pokeball and hurled it forwards. "Hitmonlee! Hi-Jump Kick!"
The Fighting type Pokemon exploded from the Pokeball in a flash of shocking white light and instantly launched itself at the enraged Kangaskhan just as it broke into a run. Ivy let out a scream of fright as the two Pokemon collided and with a horrible crash, the Kangaskhan was uprooted and propelled backwards, slamming into the cave wall. It fell, face first, into the dusty ground and didn't move again.
Ivy stood there, heart hammering against her chest, completely shocked by the display of power the Hitmonlee had just displayed and only vaguely aware of Robert's hand still clasped around her wrist. She watched the Kangaskhan intently, looking for even the slightest twitch or movement but Robert had other ideas. He tugged impatiently at her, calling Hitmonlee to his side, and began dragging her down the nearest tunnel.
"R...Robert!" Ivy cried out in protest as she was pulled along, her arm wrenching painfully in its socket. Her voice was pitchy and panicked and frightened tears pricked at her eyes as the realisation hit her like a punch in the mouth. "What happened? What happened?!" she cried shrilly.
Robert stopped abruptly, Ivy almost tripping over her own feet in the process. "...nothing." he said in a strained voice.
"Nothing?!" She cried out. "Robert, that was not nothing!"
"'Not nothing'?" Robert quoted. "A university student using double negatives? I would have expected better of—"
"Enough!" Ivy cried out, reaching out and slapping Robert as hard as she could across the arm. Robert barely flinched; the girl didn't have a lot of brute strength behind her swing, but it was enough to silence him and make him pay attention. "Robert! Won't you please just tell me what the hell all that was about?! Why didn't that Kangaskhan have a baby? How did you know it was in here? And why the hell wouldn't you tell me what it even was?!"
Robert let out a long, slow sigh. It was only then she realised he was still gripping onto her wrist. "Because telling you would mean I'd have to explain it to you..."
"Explain...what?"
"Why I knew it was dangerous."
"And why can't you tell me?"
"Because I'm not proud of it..."
Ivy was getting beyond confused now. "I don't know what you mean..." she wheedled, pulling on his arm like an impatient little child.
Robert sighed. "Ivy, that Kangaskhan… that Kangaskhan is so violent because it doesn't have a baby. It… it lost it."
"Lost it?" Ivy repeated, not understanding. "Th...then can't we get it back for her?"
Robert let out a pained groan at Ivy's misunderstanding. "You don't understand, Ivy. It died. It was killed."
"K...killed?" Ivy whispered hoarsely. "How did it...?"
"It was killed by a gang of Machoke..." Robert said, and Ivy swore she could have felt his grip around her wrist tighten slightly as he pushed the words forward. "And I was there to see it happen..."
"What...?" Ivy whispered in horror. "You… you saw it…die? How?!"
"I came through Rock Tunnel myself years ago..." Robert explained. His words were tumbling out so fast that they were barely legible to Ivy, and she felt it was like he wanted to get them out as quickly as he could, as if to lessen their impact on him. "I'd wanted a Kangaskhan ever since I'd heard Sebastian got one. I found out you could find them in Rock Tunnel, so I went there looking for them. I found that Kangaskhan. The one that attacked us just there… I… I wasn't a very good trainer at the time, I'll admit. I stupidly made so much noise battling the Kangaskhan that it attracted a bunch of Machoke. There were so many of them… an entire family of Machoke and Machop and they just swarmed in so fast that I couldn't do anything. I got overwhelmed. They knocked out all my Pokemon and I thought they'd start on me, but… the baby Kangaskhan suddenly got free and tried to run away… I… I saw what was going to happen almost before it did. I tried to stop it, I really did… I tried to get to the baby before the Machoke did, but… I didn't…"
"Oh my God..." Ivy whispered hoarsely.
Robert bowed his head to the ground, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. "After it lost its baby, the Kangaskhan just went mad... I... I went looking for it a few times after that… Local Pokemon nurses had said it had gone into a depression and it started looking after the Cubone that lived in Rock Tunnel. Like it adopted them. Like it became their mother… And whenever anyone tried to invade here, it would chase them out..."
"Oh my God, Robert..."
"So, that's why I didn't want you coming in here alone. Not with that thing in here." Robert concluded gruffly, before removing his hand from around Ivy's wrist. The absence of his touch echoed through her entire arm. "At least now we should be able to look for that Cubone in peace. Now, come on."
Robert began walking again, but Ivy couldn't bring herself to move just yet. She found herself rooted to the spot, like she was being held there by some invisible force. She felt strangely compelled to speak, but she didn't know what to say. Eventually, she was able to squeak out a simple "Robert, I... I'm sorry..."
Robert paused for a moment, coming to a complete halt in his tracks. Ivy stood there, just waiting for the onslaught of sarcasm or scathing retorts she had grown used to with the young man, but to her surprise, they did not come. Instead he snorted slightly and murmured, just barely loud enough for her to hear "Me too."
Ivy's mouth swung open in astonishment but Robert was quickly yelling at her to hurry up and she didn't get the chance to process what she had just heard. She followed him at once, casting a look back behind her nervously, still not totally convinced she was safe, despite knowing the monster of Rock Tunnel was now unconscious and unable to hurt them.
They walked for another five minutes in silence aside from the odd mutter that came from Robert's Hitmonlee, who Robert had kept out "just in case". Ivy's eyes were keenly peeled for any sign of a Cubone, but not a single Pokemon had shown up since the Kangaskhan. Robert was becoming ever more concerned. He had anticipated barely being able to move through Rock Tunnel for Zubats and other Pokemon, but there had been nothing. Not even the slightest glimpse or even hint that there were Pokemon even living in the tunnel. Robert chewed furiously on his lip as they moved further. But as the unlikely duo progressed ever deeper, a sound suddenly shattered the silence that encompassed them.
A yell.
Robert sprang into action, his nerves snapping immediately at the sudden noise. He took off at a run towards the source of the yell, moving surprisingly fast for a young man that carried such a rounded bulk as he did. Ivy shrieked as her companion suddenly vanished and started rapidly disappearing up the tunnel. She broke into a run and followed him along the tunnel, emerging into another chamber. This one was huge, and brightly lit. And as Ivy realised in horror, her heart leaping to her mouth, it was also full of people.
"What the hell is going on in here?!" Ivy heard Robert say in shock as she caught up to him, panting and wheezing.
It took her a moment to take in the surroundings sprawled out in front of her. The first thing she saw were the backs of about five people all dressed head to foot in black, illuminated by bright lights that had been strung all over the chamber. The second thing she saw was another young man, this one not all in black, but everyday wear, slumped in a heap and twitching slightly, the unconscious figure of a Nidorino beside him. And the third and final thing she noticed, this perhaps the most horrible thing of all, was the sight of a Cubone skull lying discarded and abandoned only a few feet away from the crowd of people in black. Her hand flew to her mouth as she looked upon the state of the skull.
It had been crushed.
Author's Note
Okay, I didn't really plan on writing a Master's Degree update until I had Free Spirits finished, but I got inspiration so I had to :)
There'll be a couple of new characters entering over the next few chapters, including the young man at the end of this chapter. They're OCs so I can't claim any ownership of them, but I'm hoping they'll help drive the story dynamic and push forth the story arc I'm introducing. There is one more slot available for an OC, so if anyone wants that, PM me ONLY for more details and the form.
Thanks to my lovely reviewers, Guest, I have a dictionary here, YoungDarkPegasus, TCoBlackRoses, xFillyStarx, MidsummerMoonlight99, Shadow Serenity 57, solyeuse, Manser77 and Puniful-Teakat. Your reviews and support mean the world to me, guys =) Thank you so much!
Until next time!
