Another chapter :D
Side note: MY THEORIES OF POKEMON AGE (DON'T WORRY NO ONE'S GETTING OLD OR DYING BUT I DO MENTION NOVA'S AGE)
At 4 months, a wild Pokemon is 'mature' meaning it can fight and fend for itself and is nearly its full evolutionary size. Almost no Pokemon evolves this early (except some caterpie)
At 6 months, a domestic Pokemon is 'mature' and can battle. Before this, almost none have anything more serious than a play battle and grow to level 5 through experiencing the world, play fighting and simply walking around. Raised Pokemon are automatically stronger than a wild one of similar stature because they had more time to grow and a better environment to grow up in.
LIFE SPANS:
Assuming the average human in the world of Pokemon lives 80 years, I believe the average raised Pokemon lives about 65-70, long enough to live out its life with its trainer (because trainers get their Pokemon at age 10). 65% of Pokemon do not live two years past when their trainer dies.
A weak or common wild Pokemon probably only lives 20-30 years (like a zigzagoon or wurmple) while rarer wild Pokemon live roughly 30-40 years.
Evolving and training can expand lifespans so if a Pokemon is very strong and fully evolved, even in the wild, they could live 60 years.
A sedentary owned Pokemon (untrained) probably could live 50 years but if it battles, its lifespan could increase by 10 years.
EXEMPTIONS:
Most likely some types of Pokemon's natural lifespan are longer than others. These are how my story is going to assume they work.
PSYCHIC: (Excluding Pokemon such as Drowzee) 100 years
DRAGON: 100-120 years
GHOST: 150-200 years
(Obviously doesn't apply to legendaries)
AGING:
Pokemon don't break hips falling down the stairs as they age, nor do they get wrinkly skin and start going bald. This is what happens assuming the Pokemon's lifespan is 70 years.
YEAR 60: Still as strong, no sign of aging except slightly duller coat. Every year, speed stat falls 2-3 points.
YEAR 65: Slightly gray around muzzle and dull coat. As physical attacks are hindered, most trainers use older Pokemon's Special attacks only or retire them.
YEAR 70: Pokemon passes away with a final goodbye (Old Pokemon can-to some extent-control when they die, they know it's coming and have a week to die peacefully before their body fails them. Pokemon's spirits stay with the ones they love.
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On that somber note, let the chapter begin! Let me stress that if you refuse to believe in one of these ideas, it will not really impact the story, its just here to further explain the Pokemon world (from this stories' viewpoint)
Nova and Gold continued their silent vigil over the fallen rocks for several minutes before Gold cut in.
"...Weren't we supposed to be taking care of that crazy little lard-star?" Gold asked quietly.
"She's not a lard-oh in the name of Mew-!" Nova hopped to her paws, wildly searching while Gold simply rolled his eyes and crossed his tiny arms.
"And where did those 'Grunts' go?"Nova asked, worried. Gold's eyes widened for a second before the mask of calm he usually wore slipped over it and he watched her search around the rocks.
"Oh come on, Rusty, where could she have gone but further in?"
Nova stopped searching. She couldn't argue with that logic.
"Alright then, let's go exploring," Nova said trying to sound brave.
"Finally," Gold huffed.
Nova turned to the rockfall where the others were trapped. "I promise I'll be back, don't worry."
With that, Nova turned around and followed Gold further into the cave. Within minutes, they reached a fork in the road.
"Just great," Gold groaned, "exactly what we don't need."
"Hold on," Nova said, lowering her nose to the ground and sniffing both paths. Last time she had done this, all she could smell was dust and cavern but now something stronger was emitting from one of the tunnels.
"Well, Sherlock?" Gold asked impatiently.
"Who?"
"Nevermind, which way?"
"Oh, uh...this way, I think."
"You think?"
"It smells like...well kind of like the night and dew. Just like Cleffa does."
"We're in a cave it's always dark and damp!" Gold exclaimed, looking like he was on the verge of punching his own lights out. Nova noticed he had been more touchy than normal so she chalked it up to the stress caused by him being underground.
"Let's keep going," Nova said, pushing him forward into the narrow tunnel with her head.
"Sure, fine, let's just keep going..." Gold muttered shoving Nova off and cautiously walking forward on his own.
Nova frowned slightly, "Is something-" She stopped suddenly as she caught a whiff of an even stronger scent. "There it is again, that smell. It's really strong now. Let's go!"
Nova and Gold took off.
"We're almost there!" Nova panted as they neared a bright tunnel.
"Whoa!" Nova squeaked, skidding to a stop next to Gold who had dug both his front and back legs into the ground in order to prevent tumbling off the sloped ledge fifteen feet above the ground. They were now in a circular room, domed with the very top open, showing a view of the sunset sky. Underneath them were dozens of older looking Cleffa all chanting to a large purple stone, tall enough that it almost reached their ledge, residing in the middle of the cavern.
"We haven't been noticed," Gold breathed.
"But...what are they doing?" Nova inquired, peaking over the edge at them.
"They're making something," Gold noticed as they brought in pieces of still-buzzing machinery and assembled it to a larger hunk of metal.
"What are they saying?" Nova persisted, moving even closer to the edge.
Gold gave her an annoyed look. "Why don't ya find out?"
"Wha-?" Nova protested as Gold shoved the discolored Eevee off the ledge where she tumbled to the bottom in a russet heap.
"Intruder! Intruder" The star Pokemon scrambled away as they shrieked in terror.
So I'm the distraction, huh Gold? Nova thought to herself, Fine then, I'll be the best distraction he's ever seen, dammit.
Nova decided she needed to manipulate them in order for Gold's (or at least what she thought Gold's plan was. He might have simply wanted to shove her off a giant ledge) plan.
"H-hello there you guys. I'm Nova the Eevee, nice to meet all of you." Nova tried innocently. The Pokemon all stared bewilderedly at each other until a slightly larger, darker Cleffa look-alike parted the crowd.
Now that Nova really took a look, she could see several frightening differences between Cleffa and these Pokemon. First of all, they were a lot more spiky, second, they looked a lot meaner now that they had gotten over Nova's sudden appearance, and third, they were all more than twice her size.
Cleffa (along with Azurill and Igglybuff) fell four inches short of Nova's height, as they were only about four or five months old; still young to be involved in proper battles, while Nova was six and a half months old and a full Eevee height of one foot, zero inches.
Nova cowered under the shadow of the towering Pokemon as she spoke with a surprisingly low voice considering her appearance. "We are the Clefairy and this is the Moon Cave, cave of the Moonstone. Why have you come?" The Clefairy looked angry and hostile so Nova decided the less they knew, the better for them at the time.
"I'm sorry. Really sorry. Me and my friends lost our way in here," Nova said, avoiding glancing at Gold lest she give away his location, actually she just stared at the ground, too nervous to look the Clefairy in the eyes. Any provocation and the tense situation could easily become a battle. Not something she was inclined to do.
Clefairy frowned. "Are they humans?"
"Huh?" Nova risked a glance up at the Clefairy's dark button eyes.
"The ones you call your friends," She clarified impatiently. Nova mentally backpedaled. She only had one shot at this or else her plan wouldn't work. She was painfully aware of Gold watching the situation unfold, if a little angry that he wasn't stepping in to help.
"No! No, I got trapped in here with my Pokemon friends," that much was true; she was separated from the humans, "the scientists outside had us cornered so we fled into this cave." Now that part was a blatant lie, but she ignored her conscience.
The Clefairy stepped back a little bit, visibly more relaxed. "Scientists, they are horrible."
Nova grinned humorlessly at the Clefairy, hackles lowering. She didn't need to lie in order to agree with that sentiment. "Yes, they are."
Clefairy giggled before introducing herself. "I am Luna, this is my tribe. I have decided to free your non-human companions. Afterwards, travel far from here. Your lives depend on it."
Now Nova was confused. As far as she knew, this was neither a human nor Pokemon saying she was familiar with. "What? Why?"
Luna gestured to the machinery. "Our spaceship lands here every year and we must power it up for a month using the natural energy of the Moonstone. But this time, we can't seem to get it started. When we tried to leave, dozens of humans were right outside. Several of us tried to sneak past during night while they lay beneath their colored tarps, but they noticed every time and tried to catch us. We can't leave so we rely solely on what is in this cave. Then all types of humans come in either searching for us or coming dangerously close to our cavern.
"So we wipe their memories, turn them around, and send them back out the entrance. We did not wish harm on them. But now, even that cannot stop these humans. This is why we must use this machine to blow this cave and everything around it to dust!"
"...eh?"
"You're planning on blowing this place up?!" Nova repeated loudly, not quite believing it. She risked a look at Gold, who looked equally floored. Nova took this to mean this was not a behavior typical of wild Pokemon. Briefly, Nova tinkered with the thought of Gold being that bloodthirsty. She shivered and turned back to Luna, gathering her wits.
"B-but won't you all die?"
Luna shook her head. "Clefairy can enter Moonstone. It can be tangible or intangible according to our will. See?" LUna touched her chest and a glowing purple stone emerged, landing in her paw. She lowered it slightly so I could see it better. "This ability is unique to us. We carry it intangibly within us awaiting the moment we are ready to evolve. This is because the Moonstone shards are very rare. We will use this in the reverse way and stay protected inside the Moonstone until the explosion subsides. The force will not so much as chip it, only a Clefable can break off pieces of a Moonstone." She giggled, gently rubbing her stone.
"But you'll kill all the people outside! They might be making bad choices and doing bad things but they are still living! ANd what about all the plants and Pokemon outside?" Nova tried desperately.
Luna frowned as if she was reminded of something vaguely unpleasant. "We designed it to have the shortest radius possible. It will only destroy anything with a proximity of one hundred yards."
Nova wanted to cry in frustration. "That's dozens of lives! You can't-" She broke off her wail as she had quick eye contact with Gold who was furiously pantomiming that it was important to stay on their good side and make them leave the cavern. Nova guessed he wanted to see if he could dismantle the machine.
Nova bit her lip and refocused. Finding Cleffa and even trying to calm the Clefairy would fave to wait until after something was taken care of. "I'm sorry. I was out of line. Can you help me free my friends?"
Nova's brain was running faster than her feet could ever carry her as she formulated a plan. Finally, they reached the rock pile. Thankfully, the scent of the 'grunts' was faded enough to be indistinguishable to the Clefairy. Nova could only smell it because she knew it was there. She hoped the same theory panned out concerning her human travel companions.
"They're here," I indicated, noting to be careful. The Clefairy started using their telekinesis to lift rocks. I want to be able to do that, I reflected stupidly.
Just when the gap was large enough for a human to squeeze through, I yelled for them to stop.
"What is it?" Luna asked, confused and a little exasperated.
"They're very shy...hold on, I'll go get them." I reassured them, half-way entering the rock pile. I couldn't see Sam but they seemed to have broken down the barrier to each other. I imagined that Sam was on the other side, just barely obscured by shadow. It made what I was about to do even harder to endure. When I heard movement coming from the corner, I growled loudly enough for my message to be relayed. Do not move.
"Missile, Igglybuff, Azurill," I almost called for Abra but remembered that he was still recovering from paralysis and I couldn't bear leaving my humans without a Pokemon to defend them. "Come with me."
The Pokemon who I had called exchanged strange looks but must have recognized the strain in my voice because they walked out of the tunnel.
Rae who had come into my vision, clearly undeterred by my warning started coming over to me.
"Oh thank goodness it's-" Her exclamation was cut off as I stepped back into the larger cavern and aimed a Shadow ball at a nearly dislodged rock above the entrance. It was a horrible, gut-wrenching feeling to walk away like that, especially without even seeing Sam, but I knew if I did see him, I wouldn't be able to leave him. I absolutely had to succeed in talking these trigger-happy Clefairy out of blowing the place sky-high or I could lose everything.
I accomplished three things in having the Clefairy clear the cave-in. First, I could now guess that they are Psychic types, an unforeseen plus; second, almost all of our team's Pokemon were together, we needed strength in numbers; and third, I was confident that I had no chance in clearing those rocks myself. Hopefully, as soon as we left, Sam, Rae, and Kurt would push the rock out of the way and think of a plan with a little more substance than mine. The rock was only meant to slow them down and ensure that they didn't come face to face with the Clefairy. I shuddered at the thought.
I wasn't sure I could battle them without thinking about Cleffa. I figured many of my team's Pokemon felt the same.
I turned back towards them and breathed "Don't say a word about our trainers." They understood and we started to follow the Clefairy back to the large cavern they were originally assembled in. About ten yards away from the cavern entrance, I realized that I couldn't have provided sufficient time to Gold. Panicked, I went with the first thing I thought of.
"Ah! My paw!" I wailed, lifting one of my forepaws up with delicacy and theatrically limped a few steps before sitting down. The nearest Clefairy turned around and stared at me for a few seconds before reporting. "Lying!" It sang to Luna, whose eyes narrowed as she approached me. Sighing I dropped the act and put my paw down. My friends tensed.
Luna scrutinized me for a few moments. "You have been acting very nervous this whole time. And you are clearly opposed to what we are forced to do, yet you went along with us. Even after your friends were released from the rockpile, you follow us back instead of attempting to escape past the humans when you might be able to, not being Clefairy. And a group of such diverse Pokemon traveling together." Luna laughed sourly. "Yes, I have known who you are ever since we released your friends. But now-now I think your trainers are with you in this cave. Perhaps still in the rocks? Closing them back in to hide them from us? Is that what a Pokemon so desperate to protect their humans do?"
I lowered myself to the ground. Missile bumped his stingers together nervously, ready to help if needed.
Luna continued. "So the question then would be...why follow us back...unless-" The brilliant star Pokemon's eyes widened as she suddenly understood.
"Moon Cavern!" She gasped, "Back to the Moon Cavern!"
I really enjoyed writing the parallels between Nova and the clefairy in this chapter. They both have been wronged by humans, Nova more so than them, yet she is finding ways to forgive the humans while they cannot see past the wrongs done to them and are taking a more drastic approach. Forgiveness is one of the larger themes in this story. Let me know what you think!