Happy Easter! Here's an extra chapter from me for this week!
Chapter 11 - Pre-Exploration
"Hey, Swamp. It's time."
The Swampert opened his eyes in annoyance upon hearing a voice in his ears. He looked up from the edge of the deep mud puddle he happened to be lying in and found himself staring at the green, scarred face of a certain Grass-Type.
Swamp scowled up at the Sceptile standing at the edge of the mud puddle, then started to climb out of it with slow, casual steps that allowed him to stay in the mud for as long as he could. "Greetings...Cedar. Did you have to interrupt my rest here?"
The Grass-Type smirked and shook his head. "The Profs want to meet with us again, so they sent me to hunt you down. And I'm glad I managed to find you, too - most other Pokemon would have thought to look with the other Water-Types."
Swamp snorted, shaking himself a little as the mud started to slide off him. "What is it they want us for?" A thought tickled him at the back of his mind, bringing back what exactly had happened the day before - if one could call it a day.
Cedar calmly took a step back in order to avoid the sprinkling of mud. "It's got something to do with what we were called in for last time. Remember?"
Swamp paused in his shaking and gave the Sceptile an unidentifiable expression. "I think I have a hunch."
The two started to walk away from a collection of mud pits that were surrounded by Quagsire that were spewing water out and washing mud off each other. The environment changed to a grassy plain, which had multiple, small Pokemon of all Types going about and keeping themselves busy with their own games. It wasn't too long before they were back at the Professors' building, but they weren't alone.
Swamp's gaze went over Professors Oak and Birch - the latter of the two looking better than he had before - and the three-headed Ground-Type that was burrowed into the ground at their feet. Leaning against the lab's wall were also two teenage boys who looked almost identical, except that the older of the two (he looked to be about 18 years) had blue eyes and the other (aged 16 years) had brown orbs that matched the color of the spiky hair the two shared. Victini floated nearby with a large grin on his face, while the Pikachu from the previous meeting looked up at the two arriving Hoenn Pokemon with a calm expression.
Swamp looked at the boys in surprise. "Gary? Blue? What are you doing here?"
Cedar ignored him. "Did you find anything?"
Birch nodded eagerly. "We've gotten this Dugtrio to escort the team Pika will assemble to the source of the activity in Mt. Coronet." His eyes sparked with excitement.
"Birch has been attempting to send those four off for the last hour," Oak continued with a frown. "Of course, Pika had to find two Trainers and a Pokemon that have no business leaving the Underground."
"Is that why you sent for us?" Swamp asked. "Do you want us to go in their place?"
"Actually, the both of you have a spot on this team, if you chose to come along," Pika replied seriously. "We could use the help of Pokemon who have been with Trainers who have survived the journey before. You two are both at high enough levels for this."
"I think 100 would be a bit overkill for this place," Swamp remarked. "However, if it means finding new allies, I'm willing to come along."
"As am I," Cedar added. "My Trainer is inside that tower and if there are Goons still wandering around this place, then there's a chance that we could make a dent in that madman's forces." He slammed his clawed hands together, the leaves on his arms seeming to sharpen from the movement.
"We're going, too, Professor," the boy with brown eyes - Gary - spoke up. "There could be something on top of Mt. Coronet that could tell us if there's anything we can do to free Ash."
"And maybe Red's location," Blue added as he stepped away from the building. "I'm not going to rest until my rival is found."
Birch gave a nod, then turned his attention to Oak. "What do have to say to that, Samuel?" He sounded oddly smug for a Pokemon Professor.
The Kanto resident looked around at the group, seeing the determined looks that were on their faces. The old man then let out a sigh.
"Very well, you may go," Oak stated, gaining an even wider grin from Victini, who had been watching expectantly. "However, you have to come back immediately if anything goes wrong, understand?" Oak wagged a finger as he looked down at Pika.
"I got it, Professor," Pika replied. He turned to look at the group, nodded, then looked down at the Dugtrio. "Lead the way, friend."
The three heads gave a nod each, then turned and stated around the lab. The rest of the group followed, leaving Professor Birch and Professor Oak behind.
As they crossed a clearing that sat encircled by huts made by Pokemon and humans alike, Blue looked over at Cedar and Swamp. "So, your Trainer is -"
"We don't work under the same Trainer," Cedar stated quickly, making a slashing motion with one paw. "We have crossed paths repeatedly, though - under Avatars."
"Avatars?" Gary looked at the Sceptile in surprise. "You have got to be kidding me. A pair of Avatars got you to be this strong?"
"It seems they have a lot of time on their hands," Swamp replied.
They were approaching the other side of the clearing, now. Two identical buildings rose up on either side, their gray paint looking unusually worn considering that the buildings surrounding them looked brand new.
"Gyms," Blue stated, motioning to the two buildings. "If I'm right, Falkner and Winona are taking them over for the day and giving some Pokemon down here a run for their money for training."
Swamp inclined his head. "Falkner? The Flying Trainer from Jhoto?"
"That's him."
The group moved past the Gyms, then started towards a tunnel that looked like it had collapsed open; rubble was still lying piled up on either side of the hole in the wall.
"This was made when a couple kids decided to use Earthquake against Volkner and Surge," Pika explained, motioning to the tunnel as he turned to look at the rest of the group. The Dugtrio paused at the entrance and looked back upon sensing that the group had stopped.
"Does it lead to Deep Coronet?" Swamp asked.
"And to the top of the mountain," Cedar added, looking over at the Water-Type. "According to what we saw, there were multiple passages that led to different areas of the mountain - probably out onto the surface, even."
"But we're going to stay inside the mountain," Pika stated, pointing down at the ground. He turned to look at the Dugtrio. "Let's go."
The Pokemon's heads bobbed. "I'll take you only as far as the entrance to Deep Coronet, and no farther."
"I know." Pika touched his red scarf - specifically, the PokeBall badge that was pinned there. "That's why we're going in. Take us as far as you need to."
"OK. Follow me."
The Dugtrio started down the tunnel, followed by the rest of the group.
As the Underground disappeared behind them, the light started to fade, but then more light started to come into existence from two sources - Pika lighting up like a light bulb right behind Dugtrio, and Victini flying around himself and providing more light himself.
"The two of you know Flash?" Swamp asked, looking up at Victini.
The little V-shaped Legendary paused in front of the Swampert and shrugged. "I'm part Fire, so I can give off heat and light if I want. It's not exactly Flash, but it works."
"Mine is not a true Flash, either," Pika spoke up, turning his head for a moment to look back at the Water/Ground-Type. "I'm releasing a low-level Electric field that isn't going to harm anyone nearby. My original parter used to say that it tingled, but that was before she got paralyzed over ten times in Amp Plains on a hunt for Zapdos." The Pikachu shook his head. "That Vulpix had a lot more endurance than I ever did in the beginning."
"A Fire-Type?" Cedar asked. "Would've thought you picked a Grass-Type to pair up with - Type disadvantage and all."
"Type isn't everything. She'd helped me out of a lot of jams - and I'm thankful for that." Pika looked up at the Sceptile. "Why? Do you have something against them because of Type?"
"No." Cedar raised a paw to trace down the scar that went over his right eye. "It's because of people who used those Types against me and others."
"Oh?" Pika's ear twitched.
"This has something to do with the activity in Hoenn, isn't it?" Blue asked, frowning. "When we were trapped in that 'stone sleep,' as White called it?"
Swamp's orange "whiskers" twitched. He'd heard about something like that happening in Kanto, back when he was still with Professor Birch, but to hear it directly from one of the kids who actually got put under because of some weird energy radiation really hit it home for him.
Cedar gave a grim nod. "I was wild then. No one was going to give me to some Trainer." He let out a short, grim laugh. "That's when some guy in red found me in the Petalburg Woods. Decided I might make a good fighter and took me in. Taught me a few things, but what he taught me more was how much I hated Fire-Types - and Team Magma by extent."
"And the scar?" Victini pressed.
"Given me by my old Trainer, when he was trying to teach me a lesson." Cedar gave a grim smile. "I taught him one back and crushed my own PokeBall running out of there. Birch found me and gave me to some hologram and told me I'd be working with a ghost. I learned later that he was an Avatar named Joshua - Tate and Liza made him fully fleshed in their Gym for one night. Didn't say anything, though."
"Consider yourself lucky," Swamp spoke up. "I never saw my Trainer until Cyrus forced her to come here. Khrista didn't deserve to get dragged in like this."
"No one did, Swamp," Blue replied. "No one did."
Yup. The chapters are short, I know, but I'm kind of running with my old pattern for now. Things are going to end up getting combined later, so the story's got fewer chapter's than the original did.
See you guys next week!