A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I had crazy bad writer's block.

Cody's Pokémon Adventure

Chapter 8

Cody was feeling rather glum as he and Harold left Pewter City behind them. Both boys were wearing large backpacks that carried all of their possessions as they took their first steps onto Route 3. The badge Cody had won from Pewter Gym the day before was safely tucked away in a special red case Cody had bought before starting his Pokémon journey. The case had eight indents for each of the eight badges but currently only the first was filled. But that was okay for now, and the case itself was lodged somewhere deep in Cody's backpack.

The joy and elation he had felt at winning the badge had been stifled the night before when he learned his female traveling companion Lindsay would not be coming with him. She had chosen to stay behind rather than risk the dangers of the open road. Cody regretted leaving her behind; especially after what had happened when they parted.

The brunette could still feel the warmth of her lips on his. The kiss she had given him as a farewell gift had been a surprise, but a very pleasant one at that. If it hadn't sent him into a daze he'd surely have insisted on them staying together somehow. As he walked down the beaten dirt road he glanced behind him for the umpteenth time before finally voicing his concerns.

"Did I make the right choice?" he asked quietly.

Harold heard him. The redheaded boy knew no yes or no answer would relieve his friend. Instead he placed an arm around Cody's shoulder. "It'll be alright Cody. Beth will take care of her and you'll see her again." Cody nodded solemnly. "But until then, look to the future! Think of all the Pokémon we'll see!"

The thought did slightly brighten Cody's mood. "Maybe you're right." He did his best to focus on this and not on his regret.

It turned out Cody wouldn't have too much trouble focusing his mind elsewhere on their walk through route 3. Sure, it looked like a peaceful enough walk through nature, but that's only if you ignore the eight different trainers all walking around ready for a challenge. They didn't have trouble spotting Cody and Harold coming and wouldn't let them pass without a battle.

"This is so annoying. Gosh!" Harold seethed hours later as Cody defeated another trainer. "Don't these people know who we are? They never stood a chance!"

Cody laughed. "Sorry Harold, but I don't think anyone's handing out pamphlets instructing them not to challenge us. Plus, it's good experience. Just look at Nidoran (boy) and how much stronger he's gotten."

Cody's Nidoran (boy) was still out as it hadn't been recalled to its pokeball yet since the last battle. Suddenly as both boys were looking at it, the purple Pokémon started to glow a bright golden yellow. "What the…? What's happening?"

"It's evolving!" Harold answered as he covered his eyes from the glow.

Cody watched in amazement as his small Pokémon transformed in front of his eyes. He couldn't make out the details because of the golden light but he could see its outline as it grew larger. Then after about half a minute the glow suddenly exploded outward making both boys turn away. A few seconds later it was gone and they could both see normally.

Now Cody could see that his Nidoran had evolved. It was noticeably bigger now and more threatening. "So cool!" he pulled out his Pokedex and opened it. "Nidorino: the poison pin Pokémon. Nidorino is an aggressive Pokémon that is quick to attack. The horn on its head secretes a powerful venom."

The brunette leaned down to Nidorino's level and carefully patted his Pokémon on its head. "Hey Nidorino, how's it going? It's so cool that you evolved."

Harold smiled. "Hey I guess you were right Cody. If fighting all those lame trainers caused Nidoran to evolve then it must've been worth it."

"I think so," Cody stood up. "Alright Nidorino: return!" he recalled the Pokémon to its pokeball.

Harold gazed up at the sky and frowned. "Even so, it cost us a lot of time. If we had just walked straight through without getting stopped we could've made it to the entrance by nightfall. The sun will go down in an hour but we'll still be stuck out in the wild."

"I guess we'll be sleeping outside tonight." Cody mused. He didn't mind, in fact he had expected it. "Let's keep going and get as far as we can."

"Alright," Harold agreed, "but once the sun goes down we're stopping. I have no interest in fumbling around in the dark. You don't know what kind of Pokémon we might run into."

Cody silently agreed and the two were off. They followed the path for another hour before stopping. They set up camp on the grass beside the path and ate dinner with their Pokémon. The stars in the sky served as their ceiling that night as they slept out in the open.

They woke up bright and early the next morning. After packing up camp and eating a quick breakfast they got back on the path. On their brisk jog they came across a few different spots of tall grass. In them they spotted numerous Pokémon who had just recently woken up. Most of these Pokémon Cody had already encountered with the exception of Mankey: a small but angry Pokémon that began to throw berries at the boys when they approached.

Overall their path was much more peaceful. There seemed to be very few other Pokémon trainers out looking for a battle this early. Both boys only had to battle once the whole morning. It wasn't even noon yet when the teens saw the path was coming to an end. They could spot Mt. Moon from a distance, but that wasn't all they saw.

"Is that a Pokémon center?" Cody had his right hand over his eyes to block out the sun. "You didn't say anything about a Pokémon center being next to the mountain."

"I didn't know there was one," Harold replied. "I told you I've never gone this far out, gosh! Anyway this is a good thing."

"No kidding." Cody agreed. "Now we can rest our Pokémon before facing the mountain." The brunette was relieved. All of his Pokémon had taken damage thanks to all the battles from the day before and he didn't think a few potions would be enough. "I'm glad we won't have to go all the way back to Pewter City if something happened."

Both boys headed for the Pokémon Center. Cody became worried when he spotted trainers outside but relaxed when he realized they weren't looking for a battle. These trainers were just like him and Harold looking to get their Pokémon healed. Most were just mulling around waiting while a rare few were having a conversation.

The two passed them all by and walked through the doors of the Pokémon Center. Cody took a deep breath and sighed. There was something about the identical centers that was starting to make him feel at home…safe. They kept walking until they reached the front desk. Nurse Joy (who Cody noticed looked identical to all the others) was helping a boy and girl so they had to wait a few minutes.

Soon the nurse was free and they gave her their Pokémon to heal. As they walked away Cody considered their current situation. "What should we do now?" he asked.

"Let's take a break," Harold plopped down on a nearby couch. "We can't do anything until we get our Pokémon back."

Cody nodded, and was about to sit down too when his attention was drawn to the front of the building. The doors slid open and a teenage girl walked in. Cody's heart skipped a beat as recognition lit up his eyes. He knew this girl. Her small frame, dark hair and an air of confidence that made her instantly recognizable to him.

The brunette walked past Harold without another word and approached her. "Sky?" he called out her name as he came closer.

The girl stopped whatever she was doing at the sound of her name and turned to spot Cody standing only a few feet away. It took her a few seconds but she recognized him easily enough. "Cody? Is that you?" She hadn't expected to see him again-not so soon at least.

She covered the distance between the two so they were standing only a foot apart. "Yeah, it's really me." he smiled. "I beat Brock and got a Pewter Badge-just like you." He reached into his backpack and pulled out his badge case. "See for yourself."

The dark-haired girl believed him without having to check for yourself, but she politely leaned forward and looked at the badge anyway. "Hey, way to go Cody. Very nice."

"Thanks," he returned the case to his backpack. "Now I'm heading to the gym in Cerulean City with my friend Harold. We're going through the mountain later." It was at this point that Harold walked over and stood next to Cody. He nodded to Sky in greeting.

Seeing the redhead, Sky recalled Cody's other friends. "Wait, wasn't your group bigger?"

Hearing this reminded Cody of what had happened the morning of the previous day. He frowned, "Yeah, it was. They didn't come with us. I'd rather not talk about it…"

Sky picked up on his mood fairly quick and apologized for asking. Luckily what would've been an awkward moment was interrupted by the arrival of Sky's traveling companion Dave. "Hey Sky," he said rushing over from a different part of the Pokémon Center. He didn't seem to have noticed Cody or Harold. "Guess what? I got a new Pokémon!"

The female Pokémon trainer raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? I didn't think you left the Pokémon Center Dave."

"Oh I didn't," he said proudly. In one hand he held a shiny gold pokeball that he was tossing up and down. "I bought it. That old man over by the counter sold me this Magikarp for only five hundred Pokedollars! Can you believe it?"

"Uhhh…no. I can't believe it." Sky answered awkwardly. "That's really…something."

"Isn't that a really bad deal?" Cody mused out loud. "Magikarp aren't exactly rare and once you learn to fish you can just find your own."

Dave turned around suddenly to face Cody. He looked both surprised and angry to see the short teen. "It's not a bad deal! It's a great deal. And when did you get here anyway?"

Sky took this as a sign to do introductions. "Look Dave, it's our friends Cody and Harold. They're going through Mt. Moon just like us. Isn't that great?"

"Yeah…really great." he muttered to himself. "Just perfect."

"There's just one thing I don't understand," Cody spoke up. "Why are you two still here? I mean you left Pewter City days before we did. I would've thought you'd have made it through the mountain by now."

"Well we got…held up." Sky answered cryptically.

"It's mostly Sky's fault," Dave said crossing his arms. "She wanted to battle every single trainer she could find on route three. Then she wasted a bunch of time searching through the tall grass for rare Pokémon."

"It wasn't just my fault." Sky replied feeling cross. "We got lost for almost a day because you didn't want to get your feet muddy!"

"It was mud Sky!" Dave raised his arms up over his head dramatically. "Dirty, unclean mud! I wasn't about to waltz into knee-high mud when we could walk around it." he paused for a moment. "Granted, I hadn't realized the detour would put us back several hours."

"Ughh," she rubbed her forehead. "Anyway we arrived here yesterday, but our trip into Mt. Moon didn't go as expected."

"I said I was sorry!"

"All of Dave's Pokémon were knocked out and we had to come back." Sky explained to Cody and Harold.

"I'm not good at fighting all those Geodudes," Dave tried to explain. "Not to mention all those Zubats! They're everywhere!"

"I've spent the day doing reconnaissance," Sky ignored Dave. "From what I've seen, the mountain is enormous with numerous tunnels crisscrossing all over along with trainers and wild Pokémon."

"That shouldn't be a problem for us," Harold spoke up. "Cody and I are pretty much the toughest trainers in here. It'll be a cinch."

His boasting gave Cody an idea. "Hey, why don't we travel together? Four trainers are better than two. Together we can take on anything we find down there."

Sky nodded, "I was just about to suggest the same thing myself. It'll be nice, I'm for it. What do you think Dave?"

"Fine," Dave sighed. "Just as long as I don't have to be the guy fighting all the wild Pokémon."

"I guess that's okay." Harold said adjusting his glasses. "You guys can come along if you want."

And with that it was agreed. The four of them would travel through Mt. Moon together. They couldn't leave yet because Cody and Harold's Pokémon were still being treated, but Sky said that worked out better because they weren't ready to leave anyway. Instead they decided to wait until sundown to enter the mountain. They used their remaining time to rest and prepare.

They ate a quick meal as the sun started to go down and once they were finished everyone headed outside. Cody looked around nervously. "Is it a good idea to go in at night? Everyone else is gone."

Sky smirked. "That's part of our advantage. Since everyone else waits till morning to go in they'll be less competition. All the other trainers think it's too dark at night but the truth is the sun doesn't go past the entrance to the cave anyway. The inside is lit by lamps and lanterns."

Cody felt reassured and they walked the short distance to the entrance in silence. When they arrived ten minutes later the sun had just gone down and the entrance to the cave was eerily quiet. The three boys looked hesitant to enter.

Sky walked forward and had a foot in the cave when she noticed the boys hadn't moved from where they were standing. "What's this?" She placed her hands on her hips. "Are you boys afraid? It looks like the only girl in the group is the only one brave enough to go in."

After finishing her taunt, Sky entered the cave. The three males looked at each other and shrugged. A few seconds later they followed after her with Cody and Dave in front and Harold at the back. As they entered the mountain they took a good look around. There was nothing man-made inside; everything was part of the mountain. The ceiling was high enough that it wasn't too confining, but they still wouldn't want to stay any longer than necessary.

"Gosh this place is creepier than I thought." Harold said looking around.

Sky secretly agreed, but didn't want anyone to know. "Let's just get through here as quick as we can. Stay with the group and if anyone sees a trainer let the rest of us know."

They walked on but soon came across a group of Pokémon. They were Geodudes, and looked upset at being disturbed. They quickly attacked. "Let's take them down!" Cody said feeling excited at the prospect of a battle. "Go Bulbasaur!"

As Cody summoned his grass Pokémon, Harold called out his Butterfree. "Butterfree use sleep powder!" The bug Pokémon unleashed a torrent of powder over the heads of the rock Pokémon putting them to sleep. Cody quickly had Bulbasaur use vine whip.

"Don't worry Sky," Dave said stepping in front of his female companion. "I got this. Go Poliwag!" A small blue Pokémon with a black and white swirl on its stomach appeared out of Dave's pokeball. "Use bubble!" Small blue bubbles shot out of its mouth and hit some sleeping Geodudes.

Sky scoffed. "I'm perfectly capable of helping out Dave." She pulled out her own pokeball. "Go Nidorina!" A scaly blue Pokémon with large ears came out of her pokeball. "Double kick!"

As Nidorina attacked the Geodudes, Cody caught sight of it. It looked similar to his Nidorino, and he realized it was the female equivalent. He made a mental note to ask her about it later.

Despite having half a dozen Geodudes to deal with the fight ended fairly quickly. All the rock Pokémon were knocked out and the four trainer's Pokémon were unharmed. "That was no sweat," Sky stated as she returned her Nidorina to its pokeball.

"Wait a sec!" Cody fumbled as he searched his bag for something. Finally he found it and pulled out an empty pokeball. "Go pokeball!" He tossed the ball at the closest Geodude. It was sucked inside and the ball started to rattle back and forth energetically. Ten seconds later it stopped moving and the capture was complete.

"Yes!" Cody cheered before going to retrieve the ball. "New rock Pokémon for me!"

"You wanted one of those?" Dave asked.

Cody shrugged. "Couldn't hurt. It might be useful in future battles."

"Aww man!" Harold groaned dramatically. "I should've done that! I could use a new Pokémon." Just then he spotted a Zubat flying off down a path to the left. "Cody use your Pokedex on that Zubat!"

The shorter teen nodded and pulled out the red device. He aimed it at the Zubat right before it flew out of range. "Zubat: the bat Pokémon. Even though it has no eyes, it can sense obstacles using ultrasonic waves it emits from its mouth."

"Awesome," Harold smiled. "I want to capture one of those."

"Shouldn't be too hard." Dave said with obvious displeasure in his voice. "This place is full of them."

And true to Dave's word, the group didn't have to go much farther to encounter another Zubat. Harold sent out his Beedrill to battle it. The wild Zubat didn't know any moves besides leech life and supersonic. Harold's Beedrill quickly dispatched it and then the bug trainer caught it with an empty pokeball.

"Yes! Awesome." The redhead admired his newest capture.

This brought a question to Cody's mind. "I thought you only caught bug Pokémon. Why the change?"

Harold looked over at his friend. "Well I can't just capture nothing but bug Pokémon." he sighed. "I mean, yes, bug Pokémon are clearly the best type. But even so, there aren't that many of them. If I want to keep up my mad skills I'll have to capture more than just one type."

Cody nodded his head in understanding. "I can respect that."

"Did you hear that?"

"They're over here! Come on!"

The four teenagers suddenly turned to the path in front of them. They could hear what sounded like two grown men approaching. All of them looked at each other unsure about what to do. They tensed up as the voices grew louder.

A minute later two adult men around twenty five or so appeared wearing identical outfits. They wore a black outfit with a big R on the chest along with grey boots, gloves, and a black cap. Neither of them looked friendly and both were chuckling to themselves. "Well look what we found." One of them said to the other. "A couple of brats and their Pokémon. Now what would they be doing all the way down here past their bedtimes?"

"I don't know," the other answered. "But they really should head home. This is no place for little kiddies."

"W-Who are you?" Cody asked nervously.

When they ignored him, Sky spoke up. "What do you want?"

"Your Pokémon of course." The one on the left said before he and his companion pulled out their pokeballs. "If you give them to us right now we'll even let you walk out of here. That is, once we've roughed you up a bit." He laughed.

Recognition lit up in Cody's eyes. "I know who you guys are! You're Team Rocket!"

Sky was surprised to hear this. "These guys are Team Rocket?"

"That's right." One of the Team Rocket members answered. "Now hand over your Pokémon! NOW!"

"I don't think so!" Sky replied curtly.

"Not on your life!" Harold drew a pokeball.

"Yeah! What they said!" Dave nodded.

"Go Pikachu!" Cody called out his electric Pokémon. "Pika!"

"Fine. This way's more fun!" The second man said darkly. "Go Rattata! Use bite!"

The purple rat Pokémon erupted out of the pokeball and bit into Pikachu. The electric Pokémon groaned in pain. "Pikachu use thundershock!"

"Pika-chu!" It cried out before unleashing a wave of electricity. Rattata's body lit up with the yellow energy before falling to the ground unconscious.

"You kids are going to regret that!" The Rocket grunt yelled. "See how well you do against my Raticate!" This rat was much bigger than its pre-evolution. It growled fiercely at Pikachu.

"My turn!" The other grunt called out. "Go Sandshrew! Go Spearow!" he tossed out two pokeballs at once.

"Go Eevee!" Sky tossed her own pokeball. When the small brown Pokémon appeared she ordered it to attack the Raticate. It fought alongside Pikachu along the rat Pokémon.

Next Harold called his Beedrill out. "Beedrill use fury attack!" The bug Pokémon rapidly attacked Sandshrew with its stingers. At the same time Dave's Poliwag fought against the Spearow.

Sky and Cody quickly dispatched the Raticate. Once it was unconscious Sky helped Harold take down Sandshrew while Cody hit Spearow with another thundershock. The battle soon ended and the Rocket Grunts had lost. Harold's Beedrill had fainted and the other three Pokémon had also taken damage, but they had won.

"What the…?" The Rocket Grunt slammed his fist into a nearby wall. "That's impossible! How did we lose?"

"Beaten by a bunch of kids? What are we going to tell the boss?" The second one asked himself.

"We're not gonna tell the boss nothing," the first grunt said pulling out a third pokeball. "They're not getting away that easy. Go Voltorb!" He tossed the pokeball and out came a Pokémon none of the teens had ever seen before. It looked like a giant pokeball. It was completely round and red on top, white on the bottom. It also had large eyes that glared at them.

"What the heck is that thing?" Harold asked confused.

"I've never seen that Pokémon before." Cody admitted. "If it is a Pokémon…"

"Looks like the fight isn't over yet," Sky gritted her teeth. She prepared to have Eevee fight again.

"It is over!" the man yelled. "I'm finishing you all off with one blow. Voltorb use self-destruct!"

"Self-destruct?" Dave repeated. "That can't be good!"

Voltorb started to glow yellow and the ground beneath it began to shake. Electricity shot out around it at irregular intervals and it glowed brighter and brighter. "Get down!" Sky called out as she knocked Cody and Dave to the ground.

A moment later the Voltorb exploded in a wave of energy. The explosion hit the ceiling of the cave and it started to collapse. Rock fell down in large clumps and for a minute no one could see thanks to the wave of dirt that filled the air. Silence filled the cave for a minute while no one dared to move.

"Hello?"

"Is anyone there?"

"I can't see!"

Soon the dust settled and Cody got to his feet. He was covered in dirt and his shoulder was sore from hitting the ground, but he was otherwise unhurt. "Guys? Where are you?"

"Over here!" Sky limped over. She was also covered from head to toe in dirt.

"Are you hurt?" Cody asked seeing her limp.

"I'm fine. My leg is just bruised." She reassured him. "Have you seen Dave?"

"Over here," a voice called out. Dave walked over to them with one hand on his head.

Sky moved closer. "Dave are you alright?"

"I…hit my head." He moved his hand and they could see a large bruise on his forehead.

"It doesn't look too bad." Sky said after looking it over.

"Those Team Rocket guys are gone." Cody finished looking around. "But I can't find Harold! We have to look for him!" The three began to frantically search the area for their friend. The north passage was blocked off by rock but the rest of the cave seemed fine.

"Ughh…"

Hearing the groan all three teens rushed toward its source. They found Harold lying on the ground on his back. A large rock was lying on top of his right leg. "We have to get it off!" Cody told the others. Together they pushed it off of Harold. When they did the redhead cried out in pain.

"Eww!" Dave took a step back at the sight of Harold's injured leg. It had clearly been broken and he was now bleeding.

"Harold you're hurt!"

"My leg…" Harold groaned. "It hurts…"

"Don't move," Sky warned him before turning to Cody. "He can't walk. We have to carry him back to the Pokémon center."

"Can Nurse Joy help him? I thought she only helped Pokémon." Cody said frantically.

"We don't have a choice! We're nowhere near the exit to Cerulean City. If we tried to wait Harold could lose his leg!"

"Okay," Cody nodded. "I'll take his legs you two get his arms. Hold on Harold, we're going to get you help!" Harold's only answer was another cry of anguish.

It was nearly one in the morning when they three managed to carry Harold out of the cave. They nearly collapsed, but instead put him down gently. Cody ran to the Pokémon Center and returned a few minutes later with Nurse Joy, two Chanseys, and a stretcher.

"Is he going to be okay?" Cody asked as all five of them entered the Pokémon Center.

Nurse Joy shook her head. "I don't know. His leg doesn't look good."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Sky asked.

"Preferably something that doesn't involve touching his blood." Dave mentioned.

"No, you can't help. I need you all to stay out here while I work." Nurse Joy sounded quite serious and none of the teens argued with her. They all took a seat as she rushed Harold into the emergency room. They were the only ones there. All the other trainers had gone to bed already.

They waited over an hour for word on Harold's condition. Dave and Sky fell asleep in their chairs, but Cody remained awake. He couldn't bear to fall asleep without knowing that his friend was alright. Eventually Nurse Joy did come out, but not with good news.

"Your friend's injury is far too severe for me to treat here." She explained. "This center isn't designed for human injuries beyond a first aid kit. I've made a call to Cerulean Hospital to have your friend transferred there. A helicopter is on its way now."

"Can I come with him?" Cody asked her.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think you can." The pink-haired nurse looked apologetic. "The helicopter won't have much room and they'll probably try to stabilize him onboard. I can't imagine they'd let you come."

Cody sighed. He couldn't believe this had happened. Everything had been going so well and now it was all falling apart. He felt so helpless as he waited with the others. Thirty minutes later the helicopter showed up. Nurse Joy pushed Harold out on a stretcher with the other teens close by. Three men ran off the helicopter and took the stretcher from Nurse Joy.

"Wait!" Cody cried out as they loaded Harold onto the helicopter. "Don't we get to say goodbye?"

"I'm sorry, but your friend is unconscious." Nurse Joy explained. "And time is of the essence."

The brunette nodded sadly as he watched his friend fly off in the helicopter. The remaining three teens and the nurse headed back inside. "You should all get some sleep," she told them. "You'll feel better in the morning."

Cody scoffed angrily as she walked off. Sky gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Harold's going to be okay Cody. They'll take him to a real hospital with doctors who know what they're doing." Cody said nothing. "We'll see him again soon. We can go back through the tunnel tomorrow. Once we make it to Cerulean City you can go see Harold. How does that sound?"

"Yeah, you're right." Cody nodded. "Thanks Sky. It's just…"

"What is it?"

"Team Rocket." Cody spat out the name like a curse. "This is all their fault. If we run into any more of them in the cave…"

"…?" Sky looked at him concerned.

"I'm going to make them pay."

A/N: Reviews are appreciated.