Chapter Seven – Unearthed
~The past holds many secrets that can reveal to us the reason behind the nature of our world today. All things must complete their journey and conclude in the same inevitable fate. What matters is what you discover along the way.
"Come on guys! You were both so excited to come here earlier! Where's your enthusiasm?" his over energized voice called back.
Spark was always an unending vessel for energy and optimism. He'd dragged me and Go out to Mt. Moon in search of new Pokémon. Go was always so adventurous and fascinated with the world that we'd stopped calling him Felix and just started calling him Go. I wasn't so accustomed to mountainous terrain and adventures, but I was happy to see those two getting along so well.
"Come on Alana! Pick up the pace! We'll miss out on all of those rare babies!" Spark beamed.
This excursion was an extra plus for Spark because it gave him more time to devote to getting eggs hatched. He had always had an affinity for staying in motion and nurturing Pokémon eggs. My feet were killing me as I struggled uphill as the endless dripping echo in the background graded on my nerves. I did my best to stay optimistic as Go and Spark dragged me along for the day.
"I'm going as fast as I can guys, you know, you could stand to take it easy a bit. I'm sure the Pokémon will still be there when we get there."
Spark turn on his heels and used the wheels on his shoes to roll in my path. His eyes were filled with disappointment and confusion.
"You didn't hear? The rumor about the rare fossil Pokémon?" Spark asked incredulously.
"Fossil Pokémon?" I asked in confusion.
Go rolled his brown eyes at me as Spark took his phone out of his pocket and pulled up a news article. He pointed his phone directly at me.
"Fossil rush at Mt. Moon. Locals clamor for a chance to see rare rocks." I read aloud.
"If we get there late, we might not get anything at all!" Go protested.
"Fine, fine, let's keep going then." I huffed.
I brushed my long dark hair out of my face as I pulled my backpack back up on my shoulders and forced myself to soldier on. The light in the cave was minimal. Go and Spark held their flashlights out as I followed closely behind the two. The echo of dripping water was the only sound that filled my ears with the exception of our footsteps. Despite the article, I hadn't seen anyone racing for fossils. The absence of people was one thing that I could write off, but what was really unnerving me was the lack of any wild Pokémon.
"It's been like, almost two hours and we haven't found one fossil or hatched one egg" Go sighed as he folded his arms behind his thick brown hair.
"That just means the rare ones are hiding!" Spark grinned.
Nothing could ever bring him down. He was always grinning that thousand-volt smile. It was one of the things I'd admired most about him. It was that optimism that kept Go and I grounded in this wicked world that was becoming Kanto. Team Rocket had been sure to muddy everything up beyond logic or reason. Even the gym leaders were having a hard time dealing with their crimes and the influence they exerted on the trainers that attempted the league challenge.
"Hey! What are you doing?" a gruff voice called out.
Spark's instincts kicked in instantaneously as his eyes shifted from carefree to protector mode. He tackled me and Go to the ground as we landed behind a formation of rocks. We hit the gravel hard and my gut reaction was to cry out in pain as I felt a sharp jab in my thigh, but Spark covered my mouth and shushed me and Go.
"Come on 42B, you're gonna make us late. The commander isn't someone you want to keep waiting." The gruff voice chastised.
We peeked from behind the rocks as two Team Rocket grunts rushed by, wheeling a large and concealed item on a dolly.
"I'm trying Charlie, this thing is heavy!" the second grunt wheezed.
"You idiot! You will refer to me by my grunt name only! That's the rules!" Charlie the grunt shot back.
"I'm sorry 33B!"
Charlie signed and walked around the dolly to the other grunt's side and began helping him push the dolly. He grinned slightly.
"I'll let you off with a warning this time since you're a rookie, just don't let this become a habit. If you're gonna be a part of Team Rocket, you've gotta live by the rules or else you won't live long. Got it?"
He nodded his head as the two grunts disappeared around the corner. Spark let go of me as we all sat up and Spark eyed my bruised and gashed leg.
"You're injured. Let me fix that."
Spark began wrapping and cleaning my wound with a first aid kit that he'd retrieved from his bag as Go surveyed our surroundings.
"I didn't know you kept a first aid kit on you." I said in surprise.
"Yeah, well, when you're around Blanche long enough some things rub off on you whether you like it or not."
"She made you carry that with you, didn't she?" Go inquired.
"Maybe."
I stood up once he'd finished dressing my wound and after the initial sting of moving my injured leg a bit, I began to feel a wave of relief. Spark instructed us that we needed to proceed with more caution than before and that if Team Rocket was here, we may be walking toward a battle. I felt a wave of nausea wash over me as I envisioned fighting Team Rocket. Spark and Go were far better battlers than I was. I'd never really focused on making my Pokémon strong. Go and I were more suited to finding new Pokémon and taking care of them. Spark was always the strong one of the team.
"You alright Alana?" Go asked.
I snapped out of my train of thought as I hurriedly nodded. Spark led us up the mountain and we soon came across a clearing with a man with greasy looking black hair, thick-rimmed glasses and a messy white button up shirt sprawled across the ground. He was surrounded by Team Rocket thugs. At the helm of the assault was a man in a dark coat with the Rocket insignia on it. I could see that he walked with a suspicious looking cane and the way he carried himself with it betrayed a certain dangerousness about him.
"We don't have all day sir, so I'll ask you one more time kindly." The man in the coat said with eerie insincerity.
He lifted his cane and with one brutal swing slammed it into the side of the man's face as his blood splattered on his button up.
"Where are the fossil Pokémon Dr. Oliver?" he asked just as calmly as before.
The man's body was thrown to the ground violently as the other Team Rocket members chimed in with their own taunts to relinquish the information. I looked to my left and saw Spark and Go tensing up with anger as they watched. Dr. Oliver staggered on his hands and knees as he tried to recover from the savage hit that floored him.
"I… won't tell you. I won't let you enslave those Pokémon!" Dr. Oliver resolved.
"Oh… bad choice doctor." The man in the coat sighed.
He began clubbing away brutally with his cane as the Doctor cried out in agony. I had to hold Go and Spark by the collars of their shirts to keep them from jumping in as the man unleashed his anger on the doctor to a point where even the grunts were starting to squirm in discomfort. The man in the coat stopped his attack as the doctor lay on the ground in a small puddle of his own blood, just barely breathing.
"Well Dr. Oliver, I gave you a chance to do this the easy way, but you pissed it away. Boys, bring out the machine." He ordered.
Two of the Rocket members pushed the large dolly we had seen earlier into view as the other Rockets cleared a path. They removed the cloth and revealed a massive drill that was aimed upwards at the ceiling. The man in the coat walked over to the drill and turned in our direction as we ducked behind the wall.
"This impressive piece of machinery will uncover any fossil that is resting here. Sure, we might damage a few in the process, but it's not like they'll feel the pain anyways!" he laughed.
The doctor trembled in what I could only assume was anger and sorrow. As the man continued laughing, his men activated the drill and began piercing through the roof of the cave as I began to hear light sobs coming from the Doctor. This was the straw that sent Spark over the edge. He was quick to act as he rushed around the corner and flung his pokéball into battle.
"Alright, come on out and use your discharge attack!" Spark commanded.
The light from the ball was bright as Spark's trusty Raichu emerged from the ball and let loose a brilliant surge of electricity. The grunts ducked for cover as the sparks went everywhere. The machine was the first target to be stricken down as the piercing screech of the metal tearing the rock from the cave came to a slow stop. The man in the coat glared at Spark as the two stood at a stalemate.
"Well if it isn't the prodigal fool himself. I thought I smelled a few rats scurrying about this cave." He removed a pokéball from his coat and clutched it tight as several of the Team Rocket grunt did same.
"Those fossils were once living and breathing just like you and me. What gives you the right to hurt them?" Spark demanded.
"How dare you speak to Master Solaris like that!" a grunt called out.
"Silence. The Team Instinct clown will be made to suffer soon enough."
Solaris… that name sounded familiar, but I couldn't seem to place where exactly I had heard it before. Go and I rushed to Spark's side as the next Pokémon to join the battle emerged from Solaris's pokéball.
"Arbok! Prepare for battle!" he commanded.
Arbok screeched a wicked his as it entered the battle, towering over Spark's Raichu with its superior length. The Rocket grunts threw out their Pokémon next. A mix of Golbat, Raticate, and Graveler surrounded us. Spark turned back to us quickly.
"Alright guys, you handle the grunts. I'll fight Solaris." He said bravely.
"Crush them." Solaris commanded.
The Arbok slithered into action as Go sent out Scyther and I called out my Beedrill. Arbok attacked Raichu with poison sting as Spark commanded it to use dig.
"Graveler, use magnitude to take out that Raichu!" one of the grunts called out.
"Scyther, stop him with Vacuum Wave!" Go commanded.
Scyther shot passed the other Pokémon slammed his blade into the Graveler, knocking it back as Raichu finally resurfaced and slammed its fist into Arbok. Solaris's expression shifted from annoyance and anger.
"Get up Arbok! Counter attack with Gunk shot!" he ordered.
Arbok unleashed a large wave of poisonous venom that barreled toward Raichu. I commanded Beedrill to block with its twin needle attack. Beedrill intercepted the attack and blocked as the venom split in two and crashed into the ground with a corrosive explosion. I rushed toward Doctor Oliver as I helped him to sit up.
"Please… Don't let them hurt the fossils. You just can't" he wheezed in pain.
"We won't let them, I swear." I reassured him.
Several Golbat surrounded my Beedrill and attacked with air cutter. The attack connected and my Beedrill cried out in pain as it was knocked out of the battle. I called Beedrill back to its ball as Spark responded by ordering his Raichu to attack with Discharge.
"Scyther, use Protect!" Go called out.
"Get down!" I shouted as the Doctor and I hit the dirt and Raichu's devastating electric attack filled the cave and connected with the Golbats, the Raticates, and Solaris's Arbok. The Golbats fainted and the Raticates flinched as they recovered from the devastating attack. Solaris approached his Arbok with disdain in his eyes. His Arbok winced as static filled its body and put it into a full paralysis.
"You disappointing creature. Get back in your ball." Solaris grimaced.
Spark grinned as he stood by his Raichu and patted its head.
"You'll never get anywhere without caring about your Pokémon. As long as you treat them poorly, you'll lose." He lectured.
"Shut your mouth, you impudent fool! I've only just begun to fight." He shot back .
Solaris reached for a pokéball within his coat as a siren began to blare nearby.
"Boss! If we don't leave now we'll have to deal with Officer Jenny!" one of the grunts called.
Solaris glared at Spark as they stood staring each other down for what felt like an eternity. He turned his back on him in anger as he began walking away.
"Spark, I'm sure we'll meet again soon and when we do, I will crush you and your friends. Make no mistake." He called back.
"Don't let him get away Scyther!" Go called.
Scyther pursued Solaris as two grunts sent out their Koffing and filled the cave with a thick smokescreen that assaulted our eyes and lungs.
"Stay close everyone!" Spark shouted through the confusion.
The sounds of retreating footsteps filled the cave as we gagged and coughed trying to get away from the smoke. I could also hear the wheels on the drill rolling across the rocky floor as the grunts shouted commands to each other. The smoke attacked my lungs viciously as I sought refuge from the thick smog. My head began to get woozy as my chest tightened and I fell to the floor, slowly losing consciousness.