The trainers in Mt. Moon had more variety, both in terms of Pokemon and personality compared to Viridian Forest, but mentally Blue still classified them into groups. There were a surprising number of young, seemingly fashion-conscious girls, though when he took the time to ask one why she was there, she was searching for Clefairy. She thought it was cute. Blue didn't understand the love affair with cute Pokemon.

It baffled him all the more as he watched Eevee dig into his bag as he was making lunch. Again.

"Annoying is what you are," Blue said as he tugged the creature away. It whined at him. Blue zipped his bag closed in response.

Blue generally let his Pokemon out of their balls when he made food on the road. Granted, Kanto wasn't particularly large, so he'd only had to do so a couple times so far, but he wanted to be consistent. Consistency was key. Pokemon were better at obeying when they knew what to expect. Letting them out of their Pokeballs was not only good for their long-term health but meant they would know who was on their team, even if Blue changed things up a bunch. It was important that his team got along.

Unsurprisingly, Sandshrew refused to sit near Pidgeotto. They sat on opposite sides of the camp, such as it was, with Pidgeotto perched on a rock and Sandshrew hiding behind one. Sandshrew had tried to run away once, but had immediately run into an Onix that nearly crushed it, so it reluctantly remained in Blue's general vicinity. Eevee had reached out and attempted to befriend it, and Eevee continued to try and temp it into playing a game of chase, but each time Sandshrew would cast a look at Pidgeotto and make angry tittering noises. Clearly, it would not play so long as the bird of prey was sitting there.

Pidgeotto, meanwhile, didn't care. The shrew was part of the team now, which meant Pidgeotto wasn't allowed to bully it anymore. When Blue made that clear, Pidgeotto lost interest. Bird Pokemon didn't have eyebrows, so it could be difficult to tell how they were feeling, but Blue thought Pidgeotto was sulking about it. It sat in the shadows, barely within Blue's line of sight, with its head firmly cocked away from the team, staring at nothing in the dark.

And then there was Nidorino. Nidorino sat next to Blue, ignoring the tension. It would occasionally snuffle at the dirt, but mostly looked like it wanted to take a nap. With Sandshrew unwilling, Eevee kept jumping into Nidorino's side to goad it into playing, preventing it from getting any sleep.

Ultimately, Eevee ran around in circles, yipping at errant dirt flying through the air in an attempt to amuse itself. So long as it wasn't in the way, Blue supposed.

As Blue stirred the pot, he considered his next steps. He wasn't going to spend a lot of time in Mt. Moon looking for Pokemon. The only Pokemon unique to this location was Clefairy. Geodude were common, and the other rare Pokemon here, Paris, could be found in other areas of Kanto. Paris weren't very strong anyway. It would be a waste of time and effort to search for one, right now. And he didn't plan to catch a Clefairy at all. His goal here? Beat some trainers for experience and get through the cave as fast as possible.

But Mt. Moon did have one thing that interested him: a Moon Stone.

Stone evolution was not really understood. There were arguments about whether stone-based evolution was natural for Pokemon or not, as Pokemon that evolved via stone, while powerful, often lost their ability to learn moves on their own. Not always, though. And while uncommon, stone-evolved Pokemon were found in the wild, historically. Albeit they had become almost legendarily rare with the spread of human populations.

'Natural' was rather irrelevant to a Pokemon Trainer, anyhow. One of a Pokemon's most useful traits was their ability to be modified, in both large and small ways. Learning specific moves they couldn't naturally via Technical Machines, EV training, vitamins, and breeding for specific natures or abilities were standard for serious trainers to do in order to gain the most useful Pokemon they could. Over 90% of Pokemon are known to evolve. Who cared about the method used to evolve them? Once they were stronger, they stayed that way.

As he pondered that question, Eevee wormed its way between Blue and Nidorino, chewing on Nidorino's ear. Eevee's fur managed to get at the skin between the hem of Blue's pant leg and his sock, tickling his ankle. The creature kicked and whined when Nidorino didn't respond before huffing and burying its face against Blue's thigh.

And, of course, some Pokemon weren't useful until they evolved. Evolution was imperative to any trainer who wanted to actually win battles. That would be the case with Leaf's new Magikarp, if she bothered to raise it. Pidgeotto and Nidorino were okay Pokemon for now, but the further Blue got along his journey, the less Pidgeotto and Nidorino would be able to keep up. But in Nidorino's case, its evolution, Nidoking, could be unspeakably powerful. Rumor had it that one of the gym leaders pretty much soloed his way through the Gym Challenge when he was younger with one, though Blue was uncertain which Gym Leader it was. Nidoking was a Poison/Ground Pokemon, so it could be either Fuschia's or Viridian's. Both of them were mysterious men. If they were smart, both of them would have one, since it was a powerful Pokemon…

Eevee huffed in annoyance. It whined and pawed at Blue's leg, hoping for his attention. Blue obliged by glancing at it, a speculative look on his face.

Eevee was a unique Pokemon itself. There were a few Pokemon with what were known as branched evolutions—or, in other words, some Pokemon could evolve into more than one thing, depending on the circumstances. But no Pokemon had as many options as an Eevee. In Kanto, Eevee traditionally evolved into one of three things: Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon, which evolved from Eevee via a Water Stone, Thunder Stone, or Fire Stone, respectively. They all had their pros and cons, but which option Blue picked would affect what other Pokemon he would have on his team. No sense in doubling up on Water-types or something when it gained Blue no advantage in battle, after all.

By this point in Blue's musings, Eevee had gotten bored and went to investigate the pot Blue was cooking in. It sniffed at the kindling sticking out of the fire that Blue had thrown together.

"Don't get too close," he said absently. Eevee seemed rather fascinated by the flame. Maybe it would have an interest in being a Flareon in the future.

Turning his attention back to his dozing Nidorino: Moon Stones. Wild Geodude dug them out of the rock, and, apparently finding their taste unpalatable, then discard them for humans to find and collect. They were found all over Mt. Moon, but Blue was no expert. He only had a vague idea of what one looked like. They were dark like the night's sky, which meant they blended into everything else in a cave. Ones in obvious areas were already picked over, so if he wanted to find one, he would have to go off the beaten path and explore. Possibly dig for himself.

Blue sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Faintly, in his mind's eye, he could see the impression of stalactites hovering above him, pointed like knives. Dangerous, waiting. This was going to be a time sink, he could tell.

Still, the benefits were huge, and so he committed himself to searching Mt. Moon for a Moon Stone. He just hoped the universe would cooperate, for once.

The food in the pot was bubbling the right amount, and so Blue straightened his spine. "Lunch is ready!"

Instantly, Eevee and Nidorino scrambled close to his side, pawing at him as if that would make him dish out the food faster. "Sit!" he ordered before hastily pulling bowls out of his bag. "I should have just started dishing things before saying anything…"

Once Blue set out bowls for his two most impatient Pokemon, Sandshrew crept up to him. It crawled on all fours, head down as if it expected Blue to swat it away. Instead, Blue made a show of pouring food into a bowl, setting it at arm's length. "You aren't useful if you're starving."

Sandshrew gave no indication it understood his words, but quickly nabbed the edge of the bowl with its claws and scuttled further away, hunching over its bowl protectively.

Blue turned his attention to his last party member. "C'mon, Pidge. If you don't eat now, you're not gettin' any."

With an annoyed grunt, Pidgeotto pushed itself off the rock it was sitting on, turning its body in order to glide out and around the other members of Blue's team—

Frightening Sandshrew in the process.

Screeching, Sandshrew jumped out of its skin, knocking over its bowl of food across the floor. Both Eevee and Nidorino jumped up and out of the way of the spill, accidentally trapping Sandshrew between them and the open air where Pidgeotto squawked in confusion. Sandshrew froze for a moment, indecisive, before throwing itself in Eevee's direction, bashing the small, furry creature out of the way.

Eevee slammed into the heated pot, knocking it off its stand, and fell into the campfire. It screeched, first in surprise and then louder, more intensely in pain as it tried to scramble over the burning coals, sliding and crashing into the dirt. The fire moved with it, having set the thin-stranded, cream-color fur around its neck ablaze.

Blue shoved one hand into his bag, pulling out a thick towel, and flung the other toward Eevee, yanking it closer by the tail. With a half-formed apology, he swaddled it completely, letting the density of the towel cut off the oxygen supply to smother the flames. Eevee thrashed against him, biting and scratching in every direction like a furious Persian, making it difficult to keep Eevee contained.

Pidgeotto, meanwhile, had not forgotten about Sandshrew, and dove over Blue's head in order to chase the Ground-type into the darkness.

Blue twisted around as best he could, shouting over his shoulder. "Pidgeotto, wait! It's just gonna keep runnin' from you!" But Pidgeotto did not respond, disappearing like vapor as quickly as Sandshrew had. Blue's words echoed through the cavern after it, dull and empty.

Blue could not afford to lose a third Pokemon in this cave, so he grit his teeth and crushed Eevee's thrashing and snarling body to his chest, leaning over to wedge it between his torso and legs.

With unnatural patience, Blue sat until his calves burned. Slowly but surely he attempted to pet Eevee through the towel, murmuring gentle platitudes. The dank, heavy air of the cave sat across his neck, melding with his anxious perspiration. The sharp smell of ash and burnt fur folded, seamlessly, into the stillness of the cave as if it had never been there, as if nothing had happened at all, and Blue clutched his Pokemon in a death grip until its growls ceased.

Tepidly Blue leaned back on his haunches, letting Eevee's body rest on his thighs. With slow, deliberate motions he unfolded Eevee from its cloth prison, tensing up slightly when he saw it panting like it had run a marathon.

"You okay?" Blue asked, gently letting his fingers trail from the top of its ear, around the back of its head, to its chin.

Eevee made no noise but struggled to get itself into an upright position before burying its face in Blue's stomach.

Okay enough, Blue supposed. He did not spy any bald patches, so it was likely more scary than scarring. The stench of burnt fur made him scrunch up his nose.

Blue took stock of his surroundings. With the campfire destroyed, it was even more difficult to see anything in the cave than it had been. Nearby was a large, somewhat pointed lump that moved when his eyes glazed across it. "Nidorino?"

With a grunt Nidorino stood and approached Blue. He idly pat the base of its horn, grateful despite having forgotten that Nidorino existed for a moment. "Eevee's not feeling so hot," Blue said as he stood, cradling said creature, "so it's you and me. We need to find Pidgeotto, all right?"

Nidorino seemed confused but gave an affirmative. Time to chase after his Pokemon.

Blue would like to find both of his wayward animals, actually, but at this point, he had to prioritize. Pidgeotto was more important than Sandshrew. It was evolved, had been with him longer, Blue knew it got along with everyone on his team except for Sandshrew… Pidgeotto was of greater value. Pidgeotto was also the Pokemon he had been using to fight Zubat, as currently all of his Pokemon were close-range combatants. Without it, the trip would become infinitely more difficult, even if he wanted to turn tail and head back to the Pokemon Center at the base of Mt. Moon. Which he wasn't going to do. He was going to push forward no matter what.

Blue cleaned up his camp as best he could. The dark streak of ash from where he dragged Eevee across the floor blended into the cavern perfectly well, so beyond dealing with the food and picking up his equipment, there wasn't actually much he needed to do. While putting things away he placed Eevee on Nidorino's back, letting it rest despite its somehow still present curiosity about every little thing Blue did. Blue couldn't even reach into his pocket without Eevee trying to stretch its neck out like a Hitmonlee's leg to investigate what he was doing. Thankfully, all Nidorino had to do was shrug its shoulder to readjust the smaller Pokemon back into place. It was disquieting. Eevee's lethargy made its attempts to come see him look even more pathetic than usual.

Still, it was an ever-determined thing, so as Blue pulled his backpack over his shoulders Eevee wiggled its way off of Nidorino's back and onto the ground, grunting when it hit the floor.

"I should put you in your Pokeball," Blue said. He really should. Eevee would actually be able to rest that way. But when Eevee calmly approached him and set its paw on Blue's foot, he could feel the willingness to let Eevee out of his sight drain away. He was already fighting half of his team on this misadventure. There was no reason to fight this, too.

"Fine. But Nidorino's doin' the battling."

When Eevee gave a small mew of agreement, Blue readjusted the bag on his shoulders and turned to gaze into the darkness of the unknown.

Nidorino had great ears, but in a cave, where the acoustics were more complex, Blue wasn't certain if that alone would lead them to Pidgeotto. Would he be better off waiting for Pidgeotto to return? No, he had no way of knowing when that could be. Pidgeotto was a stubborn bird. Normally, that was in Blue's favor, but since it was currently acting outside of Blue's influence, he couldn't rely on it completing its self-assigned task in a reasonable amount of time.

Blue inhaled through his nose, straightening his spine. And here he'd been thinking that digging for rocks would be the worst part of Mt. Moon. Scooping Eevee and tucking it under one of his arms, Blue activated a flashlight with his free hand and finally made eye contact with his Nidorino. Projecting confidence in the face of adversity was key. "Alright, you two, let's get goin'."

There was little in the way of landmarks in Mt. Moon: all rocks looked the same to him. Blue swore bitterly when he came across his third dead end. So much backtracking. Jagged rocks stuck out of walls and floors at all angles, with no rhyme or reason behind their shape, turning the cave into an endless maze of wrong turns and near-misses against the local fauna. The travel loop quickly wore down what was left of his nerves, leaving his limbs sore in exhaustion.

When Blue turned past another corner, one as inconspicuous as the rest, he screeched to a halt when a human being popped out from behind a boulder and into his personal space.

Without thought, Blue shoved the guy away and to the ground. "Gah! Don't sneak up on people, jerk!"

From the floor, the man groaned. "Sorry!" The man jerked his head to look at Nidorino, then back to Blue. "Are you a trainer?"

Blue thinned his lips before gritting out, "I'm kind of in a bad spot right now. I don't have time to battle. I… need to find my Pokemon."

The man, who had sandy-brown fringe falling into his wide eyes, gaped up at him. "Did Team Rocket take your Pokemon, too?"

Team Rocket again? "Sure, let's go with that." Not like Blue wanted to explain the real reason he was having trouble.

"But you still have some of your Pokemon," the man said as he slowly stood. He brushed off the back of his pants uselessly. "Oh, please! Can you help me get out of here? I was traveling from Pewter, trying to get to Cerulean, but those thugs stole my Clefairy, and I don't have any other Pokemon with me. I'm trying to get back to Pewter City."

God, this guy was pathetic. Blue scowled. "Who the heck are you supposed to be? How do I know that you're not another one of these 'Team Rocket' guys trying to get me to let my guard down?"

Blue didn't think the man was, an opinion that solidified when the man's eyes blew wide and mouth fell open, as if the possibility had never occurred to him.

No wonder the guy got robbed!

"Oh, uh, well… My name is Bill. You might have heard of me as the guy who created the Pokemon Storage System." He blinked owlishly at Blue's unmoving expression, bringing up a hand to rub the back of his head. "Or maybe not. Kids your age usually don't care about—"

"I just sorta figured that someone who built a way to store tons of Pokemon would," Blue stalled, "y'know. Be a competent trainer. Who'd have a ton of Pokemon who'd need storing. And not just one pink monstrosity that everybody seems to love."

Bill deflated. "Afraid not."

Blue did not have time for this. "Unfortunately, I can't help you." He held up a hand to stop Bill's protest. "We're goin' in opposite directions. I ain't turning back. And I ain't a police officer; it's not my job to help people I come across."

Plus, Blue was already lost and without half his team. He really couldn't help, even if he wanted to!

"But what about your Pokemon?"

"They're Pokemon," Blue said, shifting Eevee to the crook of his other arm, "it's a pain in the ass, but neither of them were rare or particularly strong for their species. I can… catch new Pokemon for my team."

He was still hoping to find Pidgeotto, at least, but Blue knew he couldn't search this cave forever. Even if he knew what he was doing, or where he was going, he didn't have the resources to circle for weeks in this forsaken hole in the ground. The more time he wasted, the more likely it was he would fall behind. And that was worse than losing a Pokemon like Sandshrew, who had been nothing but a pain in the butt for him since its capture, or even Pidgeotto, who would likely have been replaced by something stronger at some point in the future anyhow.

It wasn't ideal, and it wasn't what Blue wanted, but that was the reality of the situation.

Bill was taken aback. "You're serious."

"Unless you've designed a way to track a wayward Pokemon in real-time, then there's not much I can do about it otherwise. This cave's crawling with trainers almost as bad as Zubat—ask someone else for help."

"Um, do you know where any of these other trainers are from here?"

"Haven't seen anyone in a while," which, at the time, Blue had taken as a good sign. He'd thought it meant that he was getting further along in the cave. But now, finding this guy and hearing that a team of supposed Pokemon thieves were about, he wasn't so sure. Blue jabbed a finger in the direction he'd come from. "Somewhere back there, I guess."

Bill shifted uncomfortably. "Actually, I think I'll stick with you."

"What?"

"You weren't wrong when you said looking for them in this cave is… borderline impossible," Bill said. His face became more set, more certain with every word. "We're better off moving ahead. The sooner we get to Cerulean, the safer we'll be. And there's safety in number, right?"

"You're not much help without any Pokemon."

"I'm not, but anyone we run into won't know that immediately."

Narrowing his eyes, Blue glared at the man. "Why should I help you?"

"Tell you what, kid," Bill said, steepling his fingers. It looked like he couldn't decide if he wanted to be patronizing or praying Blue would take the bait. "if you help me get out of this cave, I'll let you see my collection of data regarding Eevee's evolutionary family."

It took an uncomfortably long moment for the meaning of those words to register. "W-what?!"

"Sorry!" Bill said, bringing up his hands in a full-body cringe. "I just noticed you had one under your arm? My family, back in Johto, breeds 'em, so I figured it'd be somethin' I could offer you in repayment… I don't have 'em with me, but I have a bunch of info about Eevee's evolutions back at my place! Outside of Cerulean! It just seemed like something that might be useful to you? Since your Eevee hasn't evolved yet."

"I mean—yeah? I guess that would work." Blue's mind raced. He did need to learn more about them so that he could pick the correct choice for his Eevee. But right then, it was a problem so far removed from his current ones that it barely mattered. Blue sighed. Still, it was a bridge he'd have to cross eventually, and he wasn't one to turn down things he could use to his advantage. One more future problem to cross off the list. "Fine. You can tag along. But if you get in my way, I will leave you behind, got it?"

Bill actually saluted at him. What was he, a boy scout? "Loud and clear!"

Blue sneered. "Good." He swerved around Bill and continued his march through the cave. He was fine with letting the pathetic man tag along, but he absolutely was not going to let the man become another distraction. He had enough of those at the moment. Still, Eevee twisted around in his arm, trying to get a good look at the newcomer. When the wiggling graduated into Eevee scratching his arm, attempting to get down, Blue stopped and swiveled to look at the man behind him.

Bill stared, eyes wide. They hadn't gone very far, and he couldn't fathom what else they needed to discuss. "What is it?"

"If I hand you my Eevee, can you make sure you don't let it run off? Even if it sees, I dunno, a shiny bouncy ball or somethin'?" Blue shifted Eevee closer to his chest in a gesture that could be misconstrued as protective on someone else, but in reality, he was trying to keep a grip on it. "Since there's another person here, it doesn't wanna sit still. But if you hold it, it can sniff you or whatever to its heart's content while we walk."

"Oh, sure, I can definitely do that." Blue handed Bill his Eevee, and Bill relaxed a little once he got the furball in his arms, tension bleeding out. Perhaps he was the sort of person who felt more secure with something to do with his hands? "Like I said, my family deals with these little guys, so I can handle him no problem."

"If your family breeds Pokemon, how come you don't have very many?"

"Well, I'm just not a good trainer," Bill admitted. He didn't sound embarrassed by the admittance, merely resigned. "I like Pokemon, but I'm no good at getting them to listen to me. Ma always said I was too soft… but, since Eevee are always in such high demand, we ran into issues in having enough room for them. That's why I developed the Pokemon Storage System!"

"Huh. Neat. Did ya develop the trading system, too?"

"Not really. I did help. But I was more a consultant on that project."

Blue supposed that made sense. Before he could open his mouth to ask more questions, Nidorino nudged his leg, willing him to get back on task.

Right. Pidgeotto. Maybe Sandshrew. Nidorino.

Nidorino!

"One last thing before we really get movin'," Blue said, placing his now-free hands on his hips. "If you see any Moon Stones, I want 'em."

"For your Nidorino?"

"No, for my Mankey. Yes, for my Nidorino!"

Bill flinched at the sudden volume, the shout echoing around them like a taunt for the older man's stupidity. Blue took that as a sign that he had got his message across and finally returned to the cave crawl. No more distractions.

From behind him, Bill murmured incessantly at Eevee, baby-talking at it in the way people did at small, cute Pokemon. It was a constant stream of, "Ah, look at you! You're kinda a mess, ain't'cha buddy? Yeah, this cave's pretty tough. Scary, even! I think we'll be okay, though… Ooh, your nose is so wet! No, don't lick my face!"

Forget the road to the top. The road leading Blue out of his cave kept getting longer and longer.