Well, another update for you. I would have had it up yesterday but it wouldn't upload for some stupid reason.
Episode 122: Escaping the Shadows
"Okay," Fervo said as all of the Blues stood in the entrances to their sleeping caves, "we have ten green crystals and there are nine groups. The strongest member of each group will take a crystal, so that'd be me and Tate."
"Hey, what about Flame?" Cray yelled out, making Fervo chuckle as he handed out the crystals.
"He gets the spare, don't worry."
As I got mine and looped the rope holding it around my neck, I unlatched the Blue crystal and added that to the same rope.
"Cray, go dig up the bags of Boom Berries," I said, "you never know if they might come in handy."
"Righto boss," she muttered as she vanished into the cave.
"You know what's weird?" I muttered to Tate as we waited, "I've fought Nidorans before, almost been killed by a few. Yet Cray doesn't act like those others at all."
"Cray is one of the few Pokémon that have been here as long as I have," he replied, "yet, she retained that childhood innocence. Even when the Greens tried to break her, she just took it."
Now that made me think, Cray did act a lot like Blacky at times, without the dark powers.
"Maybe it's how she deals with these situations, take everything with a smile and whatnot," Fervo suggested as she came out with two brown bags, both filled to the brim with the Boom Berries. I took them off of her and attached them to the free rope, the bags hanging near my shoulder.
"Ready to go?" Fervo asked, to which all of the 'promoted greens' nodded, "okay, the rest of you stay close to your team leader. Flame, you're going in front of all of us. Anything tries to stop us, you blast it out of the way."
"Gotcha," I muttered, "Tate, you're the one that seems to know where we are going. Which tunnel?"
"Just follow this one, I'll give plenty of warning when we're coming up to a corner."
So our convoy set off, me in front of Tate's group while Fervo acted as rearguard. Tate was also the one carrying Roco, although he technicaly belonged in Fervo's team. It was excilerating to finally get round to escaping the tunnels, although I couldn't help wondering if the Hypno was ever going to come after us. I shook the thoughts out of my head and focused on the task at hand, staying alert for any sign of attack.
After around ten minute of following Tate's directions, I stepped over a small line of pebbles and noticed that my blue crystal stopped shining. My green one kept going and I bumped up my tail flamn to make up the extra light needed to navigate, while the other groups had to take it slower seeing as only one member had the needed light.
A little while later, I noticed a small green glint coming from up ahead. It was coming from around a corner. I weakened my tail flame and covered my green crystal, hearing the others stop behind me and do the same. As I crept forwards, staying near the tunnel wall, I was listening for any sign of movement from the greens up ahead.
As I got closer, I noticed that the light was coming from near the ground. And none of the Greens were shorter than I was, so I was getting suspicious. Then I started to pick up a strange scent, one that I recognized well. Blood.
I didn't bother with stealth anymore and flared up my tail flame as much as I could as I shot around the corner.
"Holy mother of Mew," I gasped as four Greens lay on the floor, all in the center of a pool of blood that glinted in the crystal lights.
The one nearest to me twitched slightly and I noticed that it was trying to get up, it was still alive. I remembered it from the fight, it was one of the ones that I took down during my hyperactive spree.
"Is someone there?" It spluttered, I couldn't recognize the species. it was some sort of ferret type creature.
"Yeah," I muttered as I stepped closer, "what did this to you?"
"Jolteon, he just appeared out of nowhere and tore us to shreds," the wounded Pokémon muttered as it turned its head to look in my direction, although it couldn't see me properly thanks to the blood covering its face, "we couldn't fight back, he was too fast."
"He would do this, to his own side?" I said, glancing around for any sign of an ambush.
"You have to be a Blue," the mortaly injured Pokémon chuckled, which turned to coughing and it spat out blood, "take the crystals, they won't be any use to us anymore. And, sorry for all of the stuff we did. It was as though something was causing our greed to take over. Well, at least that power won't be able to touch me where I'm going."
The Pokémon coughed a few more times before collapsing. I stepped fowards and checked for breathing, nothing.
"They were just being manipulated, like I was only a few weeks ago," I muttered, clenching my fists, "and they died because of it?"
My temper burst free and I roared as loud as I could, the sound echoing through the tunnels as I spun around and punched the tunnel wall. The rock shattered from the force of the blow, although it did sting a little. I heard the sound of running and Tate appeared around the corner, spotting the scene and muttering his own curses.
"I should have killed that Jolteon," I growled as I looked back at the lifeless bodies, "when everyone gets out of here, I am making sure that I come back and wipe that bastard off of this earth."
"But, before that," Tate muttered, quickly recovering from the sight, "we have to get everyone out of here."
He picked up the, slightly bloody, crystals and washed them down with a small burst of water.
"I'll hand two of these to my group and the other two to Fervo's, we're the ones most in danger of being attacked and could use all the light we can get."
"Please tell me that we don't have to take this route to reach the surface," I said as I walked away from the blood, "because I am fairly certain that those four are not the only souls who fell to that bastard."
Tate turned back around the corner and pointed out another path, "I've taken that one on one of my previous escape attempts. It's a strait path all the way out."
"Then why didn't we take that one in the first place?" I asked, trying to calm my temper before it burst again.
"Because the path becomes very narrow at one point," Tate replied as he moved back to his group, "when it crosses a large chasm."
Needless to say, we took that route instead of the easier one. Mainly to avoid the blood. Roco was passed onto Group Two while I was out in front again. The tunnel got very narrow, so everyone behind me had to go in single file. At least it meant that the Jolteon could hide in the shadows and attack us as we went past.
Soon the tunnel widened again, as it became a massive cavern. But the path was still tiny, as it led strait over the center of a massive gorge.
"There used to be an underground rive flowing down there," Tate said as his group caught up, "so that path was just worn away by the water."
"How do you know about that?" I asked, glancing back as I took a step towards the path that we were going to cross.
"I came here before my trainer was killed," he replied, "she knew about this place, but not about the evil that lived in it."
I stepped onto the small path and slowly headed across, it was fairly narrow but there was still enough foom for me to cross easily. The only part that gave me trouble was in the center, where a large part of the path had been turned into a crater. As I stepped over to the other side, I turned back to watch Tate's group cross.
Then I realised that the path was hanging over the gorge, it wasn't anchored to the bottom at all. I called out just as the group following was about to step onto it.
"Take it one group at a time, we don't want to risk that thing collapsing."
As the Fervo's group appeared as the eighth group was around half way, I spotted another Pokémon sneaking up behind them. The Jolteon had caught up.
"Shit!" I yelled, as everyone spotted it, "sod taking it slow. Fervo! Run!"
Fervo's group legged it across the path, while me and all of the other Pokémon capable of long range attacks kept the Jolteon back. Just as the last of his group stepped off of the path, I yelled at them all to get around the corner.
"This bastard is mine!"
Fervo looked at me, not moving for several seconds before nodding.
"Good luck," he muttered as he went around the corner to join up with the others.
"Aw, ain't that sweet?" The Jolteon called across the chasm, "the Charmander wants to take me on alone."
"I should have killed you when I had the chance," I called back, stepping back onto the path, "I'm not making that mistake again."
The Jolteon laughed, a very evil laugh. One that sent chills across my scales.
"You did kill me, I just borrowed a body," it chuckled, "one that you happened to leave lying around for me."
"Hypno," I muttered, taking out a Boom Berry from one of the bags, "what do I have to do before you stay dead?"
"Nothing at all, because I can no longer die," came the reply as the Jolteon stepped onto the path too, "seeing as I am neither alive or dead. Instead, I am trapped inbetween. But I get to steal other Pokémon's bodies, so it isn't all bad."
I swallowed the Boom Berry and blasted the Jolteon's body with everything I had. When I had finished, all that was left were some blackened bones. Hatred really adds more punch to my firebreath. But, as Hypno had said, the dust form was still there and was moving towards me.
"I never liked that body anyway. I would much rather have something that stands on two legs," the cold voice bekoned as it came closer to the center of the bridge, "something like yours."
I froze for a few seconds, torn between running and blasting that thing a second time. In the end, I chose neither and dashed towards it instead.
"You cannot stop me with your fists either," the phantom Hypno laughed, "you are just speeding up the inevitable."
"Who ever said anything about stopping you?" I replied as I skidded to a halt just infront of the crater and dropped both bags of Boom Berries into it, "I'm just making sure you cannot cross this chasm. You shall not pass!"
The phantom halted as I breathed in a lungfull of air and pelted the bags with a stream of fire. I first thought that nothing had happened after a few seconds, untill I was caught in the massive explosion that sent me flying and blew the path apart.