Well, I've managed to do it to myself yet again. No surprise there. Luckily Fire is easy. I'm also pretty sure I can justify splitting up this Rocket base stuff. It's a pretty big place and some important things happen here. We'll see how it goes.
Red looked around the floor he was on for a bit, running into a few more Rockets that were just as easily dispatched as the first. The whole time, Dratini followed behind, making a point of putting Red between her and any Rockets they came across.
The floor only had one item of real interest on it. There was an elevator that was tucked in a little area in the back of the hideout. It needed a key to activate, however, so Red had no choice but to leave it be for now.
With nothing else to do, Red went back to the stares at the entrance of the hideout and made his way deeper. The second floor had only one guard on it. The guard wasn't very strong, but he had a lot of Pokémon. After so much battling, Kadabra was starting to tire. After Red recalled him, he decided to give his Pokémon a break until he got back to a Pokémon Center.
Red wondered at first why there would only be one Rocket on the entire floor. In his musings, he didn't notice a strange tile on the floor. When he stepped on it, his foot slid forward out of control and he spun. Red barely stayed on his feet as he seemed to bounce around like a pinball in different directions. He finally came to a stop on another kind of strange tile. The spinning stopped so abruptly that Red almost fell over, but he caught himself against the wall. It took him a while to get his bearings and to stop his head from spinning. Once he did, he noticed Dratini wasn't with him.
He panicked for a second, but realized that Dratini must have seen him go spinning away and stopped to avoid doing the same. Red took a careful step back around the corner, taking care of where he placed his feet. That was when he noticed some of the sections of the floor had arrows on them. He reasoned that they were what had caused him the trouble. With a more clear idea of what had sent him spinning, Red took a few more steps and found a very scared looking Dratini looking around just a step (or slither for her) away from the spinner tile. Upon seeing Red she nearly leaped in his direction.
"Wait!" Red called just in time. Dratini stopped herself and looked at Red curiously. "It's the floor tile," Red said pointing. Dratini looked down and noticed the arrow on the floor. With a surprised look, she slithered a step back and looked up again at Red.
Red thought for a moment on what to do. The floor tiles were too big to just jump over, and the ceiling was too short for Charizard or Pidgeotto to fly and carry Dratini over the trap. Kadabra might have the power to levitate Dratini over, but he didn't want to push his psychic Pokémon after so many consecutive battles. "Can you jump it?" Red asked the dragon Pokémon finally.
Dratini looked at the long tile. If she curled up, she'd fit in the space of one of the floor tiles, so it wasn't a sure bet that she could. She took a test leap from one normal tile to another, but she didn't quite make it. She shook her head sadly when she looked back at Red.
With a sigh kneeled down and held his arms out. "You're going to have to go for it. I'll catch you." Dratini looked almost as scared as when the Rocket grunt with the whip was chasing her. She shook her head furiously and backed away from the spinner tile. "I'm sorry, but I can't get back to you. And this is the only way you can get to me." Dratini shook her head again. "Please?"
Dratini shook her head again, but this time she took a few deep breaths. Suddenly she slithered at the spinner tile and leaped with all she had. Like with her practice run, she landed short and started to spin toward Red. He caught her, but the momentum from the spinner tile shoved him back. He wrapped Dratini in a tight hug to stop the spinning and held on to the floor with all the traction his shoes could provide. The two stopped just before the next spinner tile and both relaxed on their new safe haven between the devious traps.
"I guess we know why there aren't many Rockets on this floor," Red thought out loud, to which Dratini nodded. Red picked up the surprisingly light Dratini since she was already in his arms, and she curled herself up to make herself easier to carry. "It's a maze," Red noted, looking around. He stepped up to another nearby spinner and took a breath. "Are you ready, Dratini?" She shook her head again, but she closed her eyes and held on to Red with her tail. He took the sign and took the apprehensive first step.
The experience was just as unpleasant the second time as the first (and longer to boot), but the two held onto each other and endured. Once they got into the rhythm of the spinning tiles, it was a lot easier to deal with. Still scary, nauseating, and unpleasant, but much more bearable. They finally, gratefully reached the end. They were rewarded with a staircase at the end of the painful maze, as well as the second floor stop of the elevator from before. Unfortunately, Red still didn't have the key for it.
Red and Dratini made their way deeper into the hideout, but on the third floor, they were greeted with still more spinner tiles. Dratini turned for the stairs without missing a beat, but Red picked her up before she could go anywhere.
"Come on, Dratini. We can do this." Dratini just huffed and kept her eyes on the stairs. "I won't force you to go any further, but you know the way out has these things too. Someone in here has to have the key to the elevator. We can use that to get out of here later." Dratini wasn't convinced, but she did show she was giving it some thought. "Besides, I want to give whoever's in charge here a peace of my mind about what they were doing to you and the other Pokémon they're selling."
Dratini's expression changed at that. She looked from the staircase to the second spinner maze with determination and nodded strongly. "Alright, here we go." By the time they hit the end of the maze, both Red and Dratini were almost too dizzy to walk. Red stumbled forward into another hall, not even noticing the Rocket grunt until he heard the snap of a Pokéball opening.
Red fell over as he instinctively dodged the Raticate Tackle aimed at him. It took him a few seconds, but he was able to get back to his feet. "You're mine, punk!" the Grunt announced. Red responded by sending out his Pidgeotto.
"Pidgeotto, Sand Attack," Red ordered blearily. It took him a second to realize his brain must have been scrambled from all the spinning because there was no sand on the ground to kick up. Luckily, Pidgeotto saw his trainer's state and wasn't above doing his own thing in a circumstance like this. After dodging the Raticate's second Tackle attack, Pidgeotto responded with one of his own. The foe's Raticate was smacked into the wall and knocked out.
Pidgeotto let out a strong cry in victory and started glowing. He grew and the crest of feathers on his head grew much longer. The light and sound of his evolving Pokémon's cry seemed to snap Red out of his stupor. After a quick glance at his Pokédex, Red rose with a smile. "Well done, Pidgeot. Now let's put this crook in his place!" The Rocket, seeing he was outmatched, turned tail and ran. Red scoffed at the retreating criminal, "Coward."
Red was about to set of deeper into the facility, but just before he could beckon his Pokémon friends, something slammed into his back.
I was worried for a bit that I'd have to do all the hideout at once, which would not have been a good thing with how little time I have left right now, but I like where this is going. I think this is once again a place where I can see a good example of my growth as a writer, and I hope this will be a hallmark of things to come in the future.