"That's enough, Snivy!" White called to her tiny lizard. Snivy retracted his vines and folded his arms. He was able to knock out the woobat and the blitzle easily with the help of Harry, Autumn's herdier from the daycare center.
"Did we win?" Autumn asked White for reassurance. Blitzle was still managing to stay on its hooves but was not without some serious injury. It seemed to be guarding its friend Woobat, who was grounded by a few of Harry's tackle attacks.
"It is as good as over," White said definitively. Blitzle still looked like it wanted to fight, but White had some questions for the two troublemakers. She pointed to the little black pokemon, "Blitzle. We aren't going to hurt you or Woobat anymore. I just want to ask you some things. May I come closer?"
White put her hands up to signify surrender; the blitzle didn't flinch. White inched forward and Blitzle began to charge up electricity as a warning. Little bits of white light bounced around it menacingly.
"Snivy Sni!" Snivy spat. He glared at the wild pokemon as if daring the little electric type to attack his friend White.
"Blleee…" Blitzle growled at Snivy.
"Look. You're really beat up. I have some things that can help you. See?" White unzipped a compartment in her bag and brandished two purple potions. She only had a few in her possession since they were so expensive, but something really called out to her about these two pokemon. They seemed like an odd pair to be hanging out around one another.
"Bli?" Blitzle seemingly gasped. It looked shocked for a moment, but then shot a glare at White again as she continued to take small steps towards it. Snivy walked behind White for protection.
"I'm just asking you to trust me. For one moment. I won't hurt you, I promise. You'll see," White assured Blitzle. She knelt down beside it. Small sparks of electricity danced around Blitzle, but White calmly reached around and picked up the woobat behind it. She delicately sprayed the tiny bat pokemon as it laid in her lap unconscious. After a few moments, the potion began to take effect and woobat began to chatter lively again. It bounced its little round and furry body up and down excitedly while on White's lap. White gave it a smile of reassurance.
"See? You need to tell your friend over there that I won't bite," she suggested to Woobat. Woobat understood and hopped into the air. He soared around for a bit before he stopped to call out to Blitzle as if saying: "It's cool. I'm fine."
Blitzle relaxed as White began to spray her little black body lightly with the potion. Blitzle blinked and then looked up at White in wonder. White scratched the side of Blitzle's rubbery face lovingly.
"Is everything okay over there?" Autumn called over to White. She was still too scared to approach the wild pokemon.
"Yeah! It's fine; they aren't hostile anymore," White responded.
"Right?" she said down to Blitzle while grinning. Blitzle huffed and stared at the ground, a little embarrassed by her previous rash actions. As Autumn was walking up, White decide to ask the two pokemon her question.
"Okay you two. I need you to somehow tell me why you stole a lunch box with food in it."
Woobat landed on Blitzle's back. They began to talk to one another back and forth. White really wished that she could better understand pokemon, but she watched them in hopes that they would do something that she would understand. Snivy joined in the conversation reluctantly. He nodded to the two of them, and then looked at White. Blitzle went into the hideout underneath the bush, picked up the lunchbox with her mouth, and galloped off with Woobat on her back.
"Snivyy," he said while motioning White to follow. As they ran, Autumn informed White that there had been some strange things going on for the past few months around Wellspring Cave.
"I've heard that people that go near it have been getting headaches! Like, real bad," Autumn said between breaths.
"Good thing I always carry pain reliever," White said with a sideways grin.
White and Autumn ran through the forest until they caught up with the pokemon. They stooped behind an old tree and found a clearing with a large entrance to a cave. Since they were out in the middle of a rocky forest area where there were no towns or villages, one would think that there would be no human presence around the cave. This was certainly not the case.
Several people in lab coats and grey uniforms were scrambling about in and out of the cave. There was a large computer at the mouth of the cavern that some of the men and women in labcoats were fooling with. On a rocky cliff near the top of the cave, White spotted an odd metal dish of some sort. There were also several bright lights leading into the cave so that people could see as they came and went.
"How can they have electricity to power these machines out in the middle of nowhere?" White wondered aloud. Blitzle nudged her leg and made a motion to a large metallic cage that was positioned behind the computer. She rested her head on the tree and her fingernails scrapped against the bark as she made a fist. Inside were several pokemon, mostly little blitzle, and some that looked similar to Blitzle, except larger and more intimidating. White's pokedex informed her that they were called Zebstrika, an electric type that evolves from Blitzle.
"Do you know those pokemon?" White asked Blitzle. Blitzle nodded once, firmly.
"That is so weird! How are they keeping those lights on in the cave?" Autumn interrupted with a whisper.
"I think that computer-looking thing is actually a generator that absorbs electricity from those pokemon," White whispered angrily.
"I heard that cave has, like, the largest population of Woobats and Swoobats in Unova, though. And they aren't really day-time pokemon so won't those lights bother them? Oh! And why are these two stealing food?!" Autumn said with a huff. White looked down at Blitzle, who still had little Woobat on her back.
"I think I'm starting to get it. I want you to show me why you're stealing food, Blitzle, but first," White turned to Autumn, "I think you need to get going."
"What?! Why?" Autumn said worriedly, "I don't think these people are supposed to be here! It's all really suspicious."
"I know, I know. This could get really dangerous, though, and you need to get back to your job. I'm going to fix all of this, so…"
White turned back to Blitzle and Woobat, and straightened the hat on her head.
"I am going to help you both out, but I need to promise Autumn that you will never steal food from them again."
The two pokemon didn't seem to be convinced, so White sighed.
"Look, I know you don't trust me, but I'm really here to help. Blitzle, I can free your friends that are trapped. Woobat, I can get your home back once I shoo away all of those bad people that have invaded it."
Snivy chimed in and then the two other pokemon were now on White's side. White was able to convince Autumn to go back to the day care center after exchanging numbers and promising to call her to tell her what happened.
Many of the people outside made their way into the cave with the exception of one guard. White, Snivy, and Woobat waited behind the tree as they watched Blitzle casually stroll up to the guard with the lunch-box in her mouth. They were too far away to hear, but the guard said something to Blitzle as she picked up the lunchbox and sat back down at her post while munching on the peanut-butter sandwich that was inside. Blitzle ran over to the cage. Many of the zebstrika and other blitzle stood up and happily chattered with little Blitzle for a little while until the guard stood up and told her to scram. It seemed Blitzle would exchange snacks for the opportunity to talk to her enslaved friends, so the mystery of the thieving pokemon was solved…almost. Blitzle ran back to their hiding spot behind the tree. White surveyed the situation. One guard would be easy to take down. Then she could run up to the cage and release all of the Zebstrika and Blitzle. Perhaps together they could drive out all of the people from the cave so that the woobats could come back? It was worth a shot!
"Ok. Snivy and I are going to battle that guard if they don't comply. Once we win, I am going to set all of Blitzle's friends free. Together, we will run in and chase all of the bad guys out. You two stick behind Snivy and me. We'll keep you safe, okay?" White told her rag-tag gang of critters. They all nodded and White returned Snivy to his pokeball and emerged from behind the tree. Something was all too familiar about those grey uniforms and it left White with a queasy feeling that she thought she had left behind in the Dreamyard weeks ago.
"Hey! You!" White said while jogging up to the guard. The female guard seemed shocked for a moment and then hurriedly stood up, dropping a pudding cup from the lunch box in the process.
"Set those pokemon free!" White commanded the guard.
"Who the heck are you, kid?" the guard said worriedly.
"You can either comply, or we battle. Either way, those pokemon that you have locked up are going free and you guys are going to give back the cave to the pokemon that lived there!" White spat. She held Snivy's pokeball tightly.
"Team Plasma has set up a perimeter around the area for testing purposes! We're doing it for the greater good of pokemon! Civilians are not allowed here!"
"Greater good?! Kicking pokemon out of their home is deplorable! I should have known it was Team Plasma," White said angrily, "What a terrible gang you are. Your pokemon abuse has got to end."
"You ignorant child! You have no idea what Plasma stands for!" the Team Plasma guard screamed. She threw out her own pokemon and a Purrloin jumped out. White threw out Snivy, and the intense battle began. Blitzle and Woobat watched White in awe.
"Sand attack, Purrloin!"
"Snivy! Leer!" White called. Snivy's glare was piercing, but unseen to Purrloin due to the dust storm that the cat-like pokemon kicked up.
"Try Leech Seed next," White said with her teeth grit.
"Fury swipes, Purrloin!" the guard called. Purrloin emerged from the dust cloud and took at swipe at Snivy. White's precise commands caused Purrloin to walk right into her trap. Snivy spat a seed straight at Purrloin's forehead. Purrloin stopped in mid attack and tried to scratch it off, but it had already begun to sprout. The seed's small ivy branches deftly snaked around the dumb-founded Purrloin and began to sap the health from its body. Snivy grinned as the sapped life gave him energy. Before White could finish the battle with a final vine whip, she was interrupted by a man in a white coat.
"What is going on out here?!" the man exclaimed.
"Sir, this civilian has threatened violence against Team Plasma!" the guard whined.
"That is precisely why we have communicators, you dimwit! Put on the necessary protection! I am going to turn it on."
Everything next happened quickly, yet in slow motion. First, an alarm went off. Blitzle head-butted White's leg to get her attention and worriedly began to try to convince her about…something? Was she telling White to run? Woobat had begun to fly away. White watched more people come out of the cave and scramble to put some sort of plug into their ears. White called Snivy back into his pokeball and turned to tell the scientist to stop. She watched him hit a button on the large computer-like device that was outside and everything around her shuddered.
A sudden and terrible high-pitched blast pierced through White's ears. She opened her mouth and screamed in pain as she crumpled to the ground. She could not even hear herself due to the deafening sound coming from everywhere like a constant pulse. Never had she felt a pain in her head quite so great. Her very eardrums trembled and her brain felt like it was expanding while her skull was at the same time contracting. She managed to blearily open her eyes to also see Blitzle writhing around in pain. White reached out to Blitzle and grabbed her. She pulled the little pokemon close to her chest and held it tightly. She felt something grab her leg and White spun on the ground to see the man in the lab coat attempting to apprehend her. White drew her leg back and quickly thrust it forward into the man's face, successfully crushing his nose with her boot. Her mind began reeling and adrenaline took over. Her mind screamed at her to run, and so she did.
White managed to stumble up, and run away as fast as she could with Blitzle still in her arms. She could hear nothing but the pounding of footsteps behind her. White drew in breath quickly; her vision was dimming, like black curtains being drawn across a stage. White cried as she tripped over a log and landed on her side.
Her heart was racing.
Her brain was in severe agony.
And her mind was still telling her to flee, to struggle. or she would be trapped. Or she would be caged. Or she would die.
Mom? Bianca? Cheren? Juniper?
N?
The sheer splitting pain inside of her head made White want to vomit. Tears sprung to her eyes as her body finally began to give in. She gripped onto Blitzle tightly. Strangely, she felt something soft and light surround her before she ultimately blacked out.
/Chapter eighteen end
Funny enough, I got a headache the second time I sat down to write this. From the beginning of the battle with the guard to the very end I wrote with the worst headache I've had in awhile! It really inspired a lot of the pain I wrote so I guess it was worth it, right? haha!
Autumn is actually a daycare worker that you battle in the game. Sorry she was just around to move the story forward and she didn't really do much. She will pop up once again though! As you noticed, I have deviated from the actual Black/White storyline to add my own twist on what happens at the Wellspring cave! Do you like it? Please comment and let me know! I already had such drama with the Munna in the Dreamyard so I had to think of something else for the Wellspring cave because rescuing a stolen Munna would be too redundant. I had to seriously think about how team Plasma was actually going to carry out their plans of separating people and pokemon. This was one of the ideas I came up with! I hope that you enjoy it!