Hello! I'm posting early again this week because my weekend is full (again...).

So, we're back with Khrista's Pokemon this time around!

Chapter 8 - Underground, part 2

"So, you're Khrista's first Pokemon?"

The Swampert gave a nod, looking down at the pink, fox-like Pokemon looking up at him with curious eyes.

"Yes," the Water/Ground-Type replied. "I heard that you were human once. Perhaps you knew her?"

The Espeon frowned, then turned and walked over to the other side of the stone hut they were now standing in. Grace was lying on a mat of straw at the back, watching the two older Pokemon converse with mild interest.

"I did go to school with her," the Espeon admitted, turning to look at Swamp. "But we never really talked. I never even knew that she played games like this - or that we would end up getting pulled into this mess."

"I think it's kind of fun, Eliza," Grace spoke up, wagging her tail.

"It's not fun," the Espeon snapped back in reply, her ears moving back as she glared over at Grace. "We're stuck in the middle of a refuge that we can't leave, and the guy who brought us here would sooner see us brainwashed than sent home!"

The Eevee's ears drooped, and she lowered her head. "Sorry."

Eliza let out a sigh, and she walked over and slipped onto the straw mat and snuggled against her younger sister in what looked like a comforting gesture.

"It's okay," the Espeon purred. "At least we're safe here for now."

"For now?" Swamp looked up at the open expanse of the cave roof above them, glad that the huts didn't have roofs so that he could stand upright. "Do you mean to say that those above us may try to find us?"

"The Professors always say that there's a risk." Eliza got to her feet again, walking over to the Swampert. "And if Cyrus managed to find us, then things will definitely become worse for us." Eliza's eyes narrowed in determination. "But if I have to, I will fight to make sure that my sister remains free."

Swamp gave a nod. "Your will is commendable," he rumbled. "But I hope it will not have to come to that."

Eliza nodded in agreement.

"I've got a question," Grace spoke up in a quiet voice.

The Espeon turned to look at her sister, and Swamp raised his head slightly so that he could look the Eevee in the eye.

"Did you ever get to actually see White?" Grace asked. "I mean, I've heard a lot about the Avatars, and I thought that maybe -"

"No, I did not see her." The Swampert shook his head. "If I ever did, I did not recognize her. Khrista led us out on the Routes and through towns faster than White probably ever did. There is a chance that we may have reached certain areas before her - or long after. I cannot say what sort of changes in time were enacted upon us."

"But do you know anything about her?" Grace's ears went up in curiosity, and Eliza also gained a curious expression.

Swamp cocked his head to one side, giving the two a curious expression himself before slowly nodding. "I do. She is a commendable Trainer, having conquered five regions, and it is said she has befriended every single species of Pokemon without effort. There are...rumors, as well, but I am not about to take them into account."

"But I do!"

The Water/Ground-Type turned to face the open doorway of the hut, catching sight of a large blue, humanoid alligator with red triangles going down its back.

The Hoenn Starter blinked. "Typhoon?"

The Feraligatr gave Swamp a grin. "Hey. Vapor said you were hanging around here. I wanted to talk to you about something, rival Trainer's Pokemon to rival Trainer's Poekmon." He looked around the Swampert. "Maybe without the kids listening in."

"I'm not a kid!" Eliza barked, frowning.

"Yeah, well, you're not up to my level." Typhoon made a careless waving motion at the Espeon, who let out a low growl, but reluctantly sat down. The Feraligatr then turned to look at Swamp directly. "There's something big going down up there - I can tell. And so can a couple of the Legendaries that are hiding out down here. The Profs said they wanted you to be there when they talk to a couple of the Legendaries about what happened when our Trainer dropped in."

"Me?" Swamp frowned at the Feraligatr. "Why me? I'm not -"

"Stop being so modest," the Jhoto Starter replied. "You're the oldest out of all of Khrista's team, so you're going whether you like it or not. Come on - I'll lead the way."

The Feraligatr turned and started walking along the street that ran in between the Pokemon-sized huts, the area lit by lamps loaded with Shiny and Dawn stones. Swamp, after giving Eliza and Grace a nod of farewell, followed after him.

"What Legendaries are hiding down here?" Swamp asked. "I had thought that they had gone to hide by themselves elsewhere."

"Some Pokemon thought it'd be better with humans, I guess," Typhoon replied with a shrug. "There's no way that I'd trust anybody after what happened up there, though." He glared up at the cave ceiling as they walked past a Gardevoir and a Gallade conversing with a Kirlia, who looked impatient for some reason. Neither Starters stopped to overhear what the conversation was, however.

"The world above isn't looking so good," Swamp replied. "This has to be the best that I've ever seen anything." He looked over a large collection of huts towards the giant Pikachu head that was positioned at the top of a hill. "The Pokemon aren't as organized."

"You can thank Pika for that," Typhoon stated, motioning to the Pikachu head. "From what I've heard, that little guy's been working at keeping everybody's spirits up, including the rest of Joshua's team. Something about him being here before or something."

"Hmmm..."

The pair soon left the huts and walked across a small plain of grass. A small, white Pokemon that looked like it was part bush looked in their direction as they passed, then went back to its own business. Soon, Typhoon and Swamp were walking through the more human-populated sector of the Underground, the Feraligatr leading the way to a white, two-story building that had a PokeBall on the front.

However, the two did not set foot inside. Instead, Typhoon pointed Swamp in the direction of a gathering of Pokemon and humans - most notable among them being a large, experienced-looking Blastoise who had a Pikachu wearing a red scarf sitting on the Water-Type's shoulder.

"Go on," Typhoon stated. "Like I said, they've been waiting for ya."

"You're not coming?"

"Na. I'm not really part of the older group." Typhoon took a step back. "Go on."

Swamp sighed and shook his head at the Feraligatr's antics, then turned and started for the group, leaving the Jhoto Starter to stand by himself.

A figure in a lab coat turned as Swamp approached. The Water/Ground-Type recognized the Pokemon Professor instantly.

"Professor Rowan," Swamp stated, nodding his head in greeting. "I was told you all wanted to see me?" He looked around the group of humans and Pokemon, catching sight of Chaos and Aurora standing behind the Blastoise with a small, V-shaped Pokemon colored in reds and yellows.

Rowan gave a curt nod. Swamp saw the bags under the Jhoto Professor's eyes and knew that it had been some time since he had slept. "Yes. We have been discussing a few things, and wished to have you input. As the oldest and most experienced of your team's Pokemon, you were the most likely of the newcomers to have anything that might be useful."

"What is it that you need?" Swamp asked.

"Chaos and Aurora have already explained about the situation concerning the Lake Trio and what occurred with your Trainer," continued a man with light brown hair the came up in three small sprigs on top of his head. "We were wondering if you have any idea as to the locations of other havens."

Swamp frowned, then looked around quietly as he considered his answer. The Blastoise, Pikachu, Chaos, Aurora, the other Legendary, and himself were not the only Pokemon that were there - there was a green lizard with a pinecone tail who Swamp found oddly familiar. And then there were the Pokemon Professors besides - both recognizable and not.

"The trio from Jhoto did provide us, Cresselia, and Darkrai protection above ground," the Swampert admitted. "However, I'm not aware of any other havens. Rayquaza spent most of his time moving from place to place. If he had followed us, he might have been able to tell you."

"That is the main problem," spoke up a man in a lab coat with light brown hair and a matching beard. "When Cyrus struck, the first thing he did was hunt through the regions to find whatever pockets of resistance that might have come up in the days following the event. We haven't tried to contact any havens, which leaves us cut off from the rest of the world. I have yet to see if any others survived."

"You were all here - in this region - when it happened?" Swamp frowned. "Our Avatar had yet to completely transfer all of us to Jhoto, which was the next region she had conquered. My team and Rayquaza are the only ones that are left of her Pokemon here."

"We were here to discuss the appearance of a new Pokemon Type," a woman spoke up. Her hair was bunched up like an ice cream cone on top of her head. "Professor Rowan led us down here and we've been staying here ever since." The younger Professor Juniper let out a sigh and lowered her head. "And I doubt that we'll ever leave at this point."

"I believe there's still a chance."

Everyone in the group turned to look in the direction of the Blastoise and the Pikachu. The Electric Mouse jumped off his perch, then continued to speak.

"I've run a few missions myself when days are slow. A few runs back, I found something in Deep Coronet."

"Deep Coronet?!" Elm repeated in shock. "What were you doing in Deep C-Coronet?!"

"It was a 6-star mission," the Pikachu replied, pointing to a winged, gold PokeBall that was pinned to the red scarf wrapped around his neck. "A Dugtrio said that there was something going on in the mountain, and it had been going on since a few days after we had arrived underground. So I took a couple strong Pokemon with me and started to poke around."

"There were enough Pokemon crying out to wake the dead," the Sceptile spoke up.

Now Swamp knew who the Sceptile was.

"Where they in pain, Cedar?" Swamp asked in a low growl, stiffening up a little.

The Sceptile turned to look at the Swampert directly, revealing to the Hoenn Water Starter a scar that went over his right eye. "No. It sounded more like they were trying to cheer someone on." He voice didn't carry any sort of growl, but the grim look in his eye was enough to make Swamp's hackles lower.

"Cheering someone on?" Professor Juniper frowned, then turned to look over at Professor Oak, who was standing next to the Blastoise and hadn't said a single word. "What do you make of it?"

Professor Oak's already present frown deepened, and he looked over at the Blastoise. "Something tells me that -"

"Hey!"

Everyone turned at the sound of the new voice, and everyone except for Swamp stiffened in surprise.

A man with his dark brown hair and beard sticking out everywhere and wearing clothes that didn't look like they had been cleaned in weeks stomped out of the building near them.

"What do you think you're doing, having a meeting without me?" the man demanded, his eyes burning with a determined fire.

A Linoone trotted out of the building after him, grinning triumphantly. "I told him!"

"Told him?" Chaos asked, frowning.

Swamp might have jumped if it wasn't in his nature; he had forgotten Chaos, Aurora, and the little "V" Pokemon were still there.

"Yeah. About Khrista." Linoone's entire body started to wag excitedly.

"And we can use that to our advantage," the man stated with grim determination, looking around the group. "If their Trainer is loose, there's a chance that we can take Cyrus down while she wears at him from the inside."

"Birch, try to think logically, here," Oak spoke up. "We can't contact anyone who may be on the inside and free. We were discussing the chance that there may be something going on in Deep Coronet!" He motioned to the Pikachu, who was standing in the center of the group. "Pika, I believe that it may be a good idea to look into this, but you're going to have to get a team together that is of both Pokemon and Trainers."

Pika's ears shot up. "Trainers on an Exploration Team?"

"You don't think that it would work?" the Blastoise spoke up in a low rumble.

"No, I do, Trevor." Pika looked back at the Blastoise. "It's just that it's never been done before."

Swamp shrugged. "First time for everything."

"Can I come, too?" The little V-shaped Legendary flew forward and landed next to Pika, looking eager.

"Victini..." Pika sighed and shook his head. "If Cyrus gets you, we're all done for. I'm not going to risk it."

The Legendary's ears drooped, and the Pokemon looked extremely disappointed. "Yeah, yeah. I know..."

Swamp frowned slightly. It looked like the Pokemon was starting to get worn down. The creature probably wanted some action...

"We're going to need you if we're going to take Cyrus down," Birch spoke up, coming over and patting Victini on the head. "Trust me - we're going to take him out!"

Linoone let out a howl of excitement, throwing his head back.

"Boys, please!" Oak barked. When Linoone had stopped howling, the Kanto Professor let out a sigh of annoyance. "I need some rest. Pika, I'm counting on you to make the right decisions in this."

Pika gave a nod. "You can count on me, Professor." He started out of the circle. "Trevor, Cedar - I'm going to need your help looking for a couple people."

The Blastoise and Sceptile looked at each other, then started after the Pikachu.

"Is there anything else you need me for?" Swamp asked, looking over at the humans and Legendaries that had originally been at the start of the meeting.

Rowan shook his head. "You may go - and take the Linoone with you. I doubt that Birch needs to be -"

"No, he can stay," Birch spoke up defensively. "It's been a while since I've seen a Zigzagoon from Route 101 - even if it isn't one anymore." He looked down at Linoone, who wagged his tail, looking delighted.

Swamp gave a nod, then turned and took a couple steps forward to where Victini still stood. The Swampert leaned forward and whispered quietly in the Pokemon's ear, "Don't worry. If we do find allies in this Deep Coronet place, we may soon be back above ground."

Victini looked up at Swamp curiously, but the Hoenn Starter didn't even register the look the little Legendary was giving him, instead turning and walking away from the group.

As Swamp started back towards the Pokemon-made huts to find someone who might give him a space to sleep for a time, he passed by a small, white house that had a fence that was surrounded by a small plot of land that looked like it had once been used as a small garden.

A sign posted near the front door read "Mrs. K's House. Do Not Disturb."

I bet you know who Mrs. K is. It's hard not to.

And as for what may be going on in "Deep Coronet," (which happens to be a Mystery Dungeon name that I made up)...well, that's going to be on hold until we get to the next Underground chapter.

So, see you guys next week!