Chapter 5: A Cave-In At Mt. Moon
The rest of June's day was as productive as could be.
Feeling good about herself after her big win over Brock and earning her first Gym Badge, she and Trace had spent the rest of the day as they said they would: with more training. They agreed they would train some more and then the next day they would have another friendly fight before setting off to Cerulean City. Trace showed June his current Pokémon roster. Interestingly, he had a Pidgey just like she did but that was where the similarities ended. He of course still had his Eevee but he also had a male Nidoran and as he'd mentioned to Ruby during the Gym Battle, a Bulbasaur. June could see how Trace had won his Gym Badge. A trainer like Brock just folded like paper against a Bulbasaur.
"He still gave me a tough match but Bulbasaur's mighty Vine Whips helped me claim my first badge!" Trace said enthusiastically, "Of course he didn't do it alone as Eevee and Nidoran helped too. Nidoran's Double Kick softened them up for Bulbasaur and Eevee's Growl made their attack go down so they were too weak to beat me. But Bulbasaur was my MVP so to speak."
"I sure could've done with that in my Gym battle." June lamented, "You sound like you came better prepared than I did. I only really had Paige and Ray's Fighting moves and nothing else to fall back on while you had two Pokémon with Fighting moves AND a Grass-type to back you up!"
"Hey don't sweat it pal, you still won didn't you?" Trace noted, "You made good use of your resources and still came out on top so don't put yourself down. I was just REALLY lucky when I found that Bulbasaur, that's all."
"I'll say. I didn't see any myself when I was in Viridian Forest." June muttered, "I might've done if that Rocket girl didn't attack me but ah well, we can't dwell on what could've been. Your team's looking very solid overall Trace and I'm sure you'll shape them up to be a real league conquering crew!"
"You sound so sure of it." Trace chuckled, "I'm sure you'll do the same too, especially now your dad's mailing that Old Amber to Cinnabar Island. How long do you think it'll take before your Aerodactyl gets to you?"
"Depends how long it takes for those scientists to revive it from the fossil." June said with a shrug, "For now, let's focus on what Pokémon we can get before the day is done. I really hope I can find a female Nidoran as that's next on my list."
And just as she'd hoped for, a female Nidoran was her next encounter. As she and Trace had travelled through Route 3 in search of new Pokémon to catch, they'd managed to find one. June beamed excitedly as she saw the next Pokémon on her to-catch-list. Nidoran were Poison-type Pokémon with a heavy resemblance to rabbits. They walked on all fours, had large buck teeth, large ears and small horns on the tops of their heads. Female Nidoran were blue whereas male Nidoran were purple. Female Nidoran also had only two spikes on their backs, rounder ears and four whiskers, two on either side of their face. Nidoran were unique species of Pokémon for the line had two unique specimens for their genders and their evolution lines differed between each other. June had naturally grown a love for the Nidoran line thanks to growing up with her Aunt Sapphire's Nidoking she'd named Spike. She liked the idea of getting a Nidoqueen to be like Sapphire in that sense but without straight-up copying her. The Nidoran was currently sleeping on a patch of grass. Her body went up and down slowly as she snoozed contently. June kept low to the ground and edged her way towards the Nidoran, making sure not to make any noise.
Let's see if I can catch her while she's sleeping… June thought to herself.
She held her breath and then threw the ball. The Nidoran heard the Pokéball whistle through the air towards her but she was too slow to react. The ball bounced on top of her head and absorbed her inside, earning a gasp of surprise in response. The ball closed up and wobbled furiously. June and Ray watched, praying their catch would be successful. Trace joined in, hoping he would somehow make the catch more successful just by praying along with them. It seemed to pay off for the Pokéball eventually stopped wobbling and pinged to signify a successful encounter. June now had a fourth Pokémon to join her ever-growing team. The Galarian teen beamed with delight.
"Alright, I caught it! Hooray for me!" she cheered.
"That was a lucky catch! Way to go June!" Trace complimented, "Now we both have a Nidoran!"
"We sure do!" June concurred, "And I couldn't be happier to have this one join the team!"
She ran over to her Pokéball and scooped it up excitedly. She then threw the ball and brought her Nidoran back out. The rabbit like Pokémon looked up at her trainer with large red eyes.
"Hi there. My name's June Silverlock and I'm your new trainer!" June introduced happily, "This is my partner Ray." she beckoned to her Pikachu, "We're very happy to have you on the team."
"So you're the one throwing Pokéballs at me while I was napping." the Nidoran muttered, "Would've been nice if you could've waited until I'd finished before waking me up like that. Didn't your parents ever tell you it's rude to wake up sleeping Pokémon?"
"Geez, when did she become our mother?" Ray muttered sarcastically.
"Oh, sorry about that. I just thought catching you while you slept would make my job easier, that's all." June apologized, "Still, welcome to the team my sweet little Nidoran. I know we're going to have a lot of fun together."
"Fun you say? I like fun. If we're going to have fun together, then I shall travel with you." the Nidoran said brightly, "And maybe I can teach you some manners while I'm with you."
"Why don't I teach you something if you don't stop talking like that?!" Ray cried, leaping off June's shoulders and getting up in the Nidoran's face.
"Such rudeness! I will not abide this level of impoliteness!" the Nidoran growled, glaring back into Ray's eyes.
"Oh I can be polite, just not to stuck-up twerps like you!" Ray shot back.
"I'll show YOU who the stuck-up one is you insolent brat!" the Nidoran retorted.
"OY! That's enough you two! No fighting!" June shouted angrily, "We're a team so we're supposed to be friends with one another! You keep fighting like this and I'll put you both back in your Pokéballs until you can learn to get on with each other! Understand?!"
Ray and the Nidoran recoiled at June's sharp words. Ray in particular was surprised at this for he hadn't known June to get this angry before. The two Pokémon looked at each other but they still refused to see eye-to-eye. They looked away from each other in a huff. June rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"This is going to be rough for me, I can tell." she said nervously.
"I'm sure they'll get on in the end." Trace said encouragingly, "So what are you going to call your Nidoran?"
"Oh that's easy." June replied, "I want to name her after a past Galarian queen given, you know, the fact she evolves into a Nidoqueen. And the perfect name for her shall be Victoria!" she declared.
"Victoria…that name carries a lot of respect and power." the Nidoran murmured, "I'll take it if you please."
"Great, so does that mean I have to refer to her as "your royal highness" from now on?" Ray sighed, rolling his eyes.
"You be nice Ray. I'm not having you being rude to Victoria like that." June scolded, "Victoria it is then! I'm so happy to have you with us Victoria. We're going to have some great battles together, I just know it!" she said excitedly.
She patted Victoria on the head affectionately. Victoria nuzzled against her hand in response, enjoying the gentle feel of her new trainer's hand. While her Pikachu's manners could do with some work, she knew she was going to get along just fine with June. This kind, gentle human was the perfect trainer for her to go with.
With Victoria now in June's possession, she and Trace knuckled down to their training. Their Pokémon spent the rest of the day battling against whatever wild encounters they had to further hone their battle skills for future Gym battles to come. June and Trace were able to win every single encounter with no wild Pokémon standing a chance against them. Even Victoria proved to be a fast learner despite being caught only minutes ago. To June's delight, Victoria actually knew Toxic Spikes, a favoured tactic of her Aunt Sapphire's Nidoking so she would be able to use it for herself. It already gave her ideas for how she'd battle against Misty once she reached Cerulean City. Ray, Ace, Paige and Victoria battled hard together and trained well until eventually, the sun began to set and night began to fall. They were in the middle of one last battle before it was time to go to sleep. Ace was battling against a wild Spearow. Spearow was a fearsome looking bird with black, red and brown feathers and a mean look in its eyes. They were often rivals against Pidgey in the wild and Ace was determined to beat this one. They pecked at each other, lashed out with their talons and walloped each other with their wings. But in the end, Ace emerged victorious. She was able to Tackle the Spearow into unconsciousness, hitting it so hard it plummeted down to the ground and lay still. Ace squawked loudly in triumph.
"Challenge completed! That Spearow has been defeated!" she exclaimed proudly, "I knew it was no match for me!"
"It sure wasn't!" June cried happily, "Well done to you Ace!"
And then it happened. Ace's body suddenly began to glow and she started to evolve! June, Ray and Trace were in total awe as they watched Ace change from a Pidgey into a Pidgeotto. The bird-like Pokémon grew in size and her hair began to grow. What had once been a Pidgey was now a mighty Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto had lighter brown feathers compared to Pidgey, were much bigger than before and sported a crest of long pinkish-red feathers from its head. They also had a tail of pink and yellow feathers. Ace admired herself over, marvelling at her new appearance.
"Gracious! I've evolved! I'm much bigger than before and I feel much stronger!" she exclaimed, "A most fitting reward for how many challenges I've overcome!"
"This is amazing! You're a Pidgeotto now!" June screeched gleefully, "Congratulations Ace! You're going to be even more awesome now!"
She hugged her newly evolved Pokémon. Ace put a wing around June in thanks. It felt funny to them that before June had been able to have Ace sit on her shoulder or in her arms and now she was big enough to cuddle her back! Ace was the only Pokémon to evolve after today's work out for it was too late to be doing any further training. June returned all her Pokémon except for Ray and she, Ray and Trace set up camp for the night to get some much needed sleep. They would need all the energy they could get for tomorrow's adventures. They had to travel through Mt. Moon to get to Cerulean City and that alone would be quite a trek. June also knew that Onix could be found there so she'd try and catch one on the way. With any luck, she'd also find a Moon Stone to use on Victoria once she became a Nidorina. Nidorina could only evolve into Nidoqueen with the use of a Moon Stone. It was going to be a busy day tomorrow but June knew she and her Pokémon would be ready for it…
The next day came and June and Trace were up, feeling bright and refreshed after a good night's sleep. After they'd eaten breakfast, they stood opposite each other and prepared to have another battle together. They had promised each other they would have another friendly battle and now was a good time to do so. They would soon see how strong each other was and who was ready to face the next Gym.
"Let's use all four of our Pokémon each to make it more fun!" Trace declared, "We can see how strong all of our teams are!"
"I'm with you on that!" June concurred, "Though I warn you, I may have the edge here given I have at least two two-stage Pokémon and none of yours have evolved yet."
"Didn't stop my Eevee fighting Ray to a draw first time we battled." Trace noted.
"That was then and this is now." June declared, "Whenever you're ready, let's go!"
The two teens whipped out their Pokéballs and prepared to fight…only for a sudden jolt of electricity to shoot out of nowhere and carve a neat line in the grass between them. The duo leapt back in surprise and cried out as they were suddenly blanketed by dust and smoke from the ambush. June coughed heavily and looked around wildly to see what had happened. Dust still clouded her vision so she couldn't see anyone, not even Trace. Who had done this and why?! Then suddenly, a robotic arm extended out through the dust cloud and grabbed hold of Ray! Ray cried out as he was yanked away from June and brought to whoever it was that had used the capture device. June looked and saw where Ray had been taken. The dust had cleared enough for her to see who their attacker was. Her heart turned to ice as she saw Tricia standing there with a Magneton looming over her right shoulder and Ray in her hands. The robotic arm she'd used to snatch him was attached to a device she wore on her back. The purple-haired girl was also wearing rubber gloves to prevent Ray from electrocuting her.
"So sorry to spoil your fun with your friend June, but duty calls." Tricia purred, "I have a mission to fulfil and I can't stand idly by and let you slip away from me."
"Give Ray back you bitch!" June snarled.
"Whoa, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Tricia sneered, "I think that's the first time I've heard your swear. You really are getting bolder and braver. I suppose it's only natural for that to happen once you've beaten a Gym Leader."
"How do you know about that?!" June exclaimed incredulously.
"As if I'm going to tell you." Tricia scoffed, "I'd love to stay and chat, sweetie, but I need to deliver Ray back to Rocket Headquarters so I'll be off. You can play with my Magneton in the meantime."
Her Magneton levitated ahead and fixed its three eyes on June. Magneton were Electric/Steel type Pokémon that looked like three Magnemites glued together. The resulting appearance gave it three eyes and six magnets and it packed a lot of electrical power. June gulped. She couldn't even stand up to Tricia's Gyarados so what chance did she have against Magneton?! But she remembered that Tricia didn't want to hurt her so she imagined the Magneton was only going to keep her distracted so Tricia could escape, it wouldn't try to actively hurt her. Tricia turned to leave but just as she took two steps, Trace pounced on her and tackled her to the ground. The Rocket Grunt landed flat on her stomach and dropped Ray. Ray scampered away quickly and ran back to June. Magneton turned around to see what was happening. Trace wrestled with Tricia, fighting to keep her pinned down.
"You Rocket scum! Always trying to steal people's Pokémon!" Trace growled, "I'm gonna knock your block off for that!"
"Dammit Trace, get off me!" Tricia growled.
June and Trace both stared in astonishment at the purple-haired teen.
"Hang on, she knows your name?" June cried in confusion, "But how can that be?"
"No…you can't be! Not you!" Trace cried in horror.
His shock at Tricia knowing his name caused him to relax his grip on her enough for the Rocket Grunt to throw him off. She picked herself up and brushed herself off. Trace stared at the Rocket Grunt. Now he had a proper view of her face, he could see that it was just who he thought it was, and that made his heart sink like a stone.
"Tricia?! But…why?!" he cried, sounding crushed to be saying the girl's name.
"I hoped you wouldn't see me like this little brother." Tricia lamented, "But I suppose it was just my luck you decided to become a trainer too. I'm so sorry Trace…"
June thought her head was going to explode. Her brain spun just trying to process everything she'd just heard.
"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU TWO ARE SIBLINGS?!" she shrieked at the top of her voice.
"So what if we are?" Tricia retorted, "It doesn't change anything. I still have your Pikachu to take and I'm not going to let you or my brother foil my mission!"
"Stop this Tricia! This isn't you!" Trace pleaded, "You'd never do anything like this! Why would you ever join Team Rocket?! Is it mind-control? They must've brainwashed you into joining them!"
"No Trace, I'm not under mind-control." Tricia said sadly, "I joined them under my own freewill."
Hearing his sister say that was enough for Trace to fall to his knees in shock. His eyes streamed with tears and his whole body became rigid. He couldn't seem to move anymore. Even his breath seemed to have caught in his throat. He couldn't even speak. June saw this and felt sorry for her friend. How crushing must it feel to see your own sister joining Team Rocket like so?
"You see what you've done now?!" June shouted angrily, "You've betrayed your own family to join a group of criminals which, if I recall, you HATE working for! And now your poor brother's practically in pieces because of this! How could you do this to your own brother?!"
"I had no choice!" Tricia retorted, "I had to do what I did! I may not like it, but it's how it should be, for my family's sake! Now enough talk, let's battle!"
She threw another Pokéball and brought out her Gyarados to join her Magneton in battling against June. June felt very scared. She was all alone against two powerful Pokémon, one of which could Mega Evolve, and her Pokémon were nowhere near strong enough to take her on! Sure she'd beaten Brock yesterday but one Gym Leader couldn't compare to this girl's power! Trace had become catatonic and was in no position to fight. June remembered Ruby's words of warning: if Team Rocket was too strong, she either fought with Trace or ran from them. In this case, she had to run. June sent Ace the Pidgeotto out to use Sand Attack. Ace kicked up clouds of sand in front of Tricia and her Pokémon to cloud their vision and keep them from seeing her. Now that was done, June returned Ace and ran for her life. Ray clung tightly to her shoulder as she legged it. Tricia wasn't distracted for long. She had Gyarados sweep away the sand with Liquidation. She saw June heading into Mt. Moon and chased after her. Trace was left where he was, still too shocked at what he'd heard to respond to anything. But eventually, he came out of his paralyzed state and blinked heavily. June and Tricia being gone made him realize what had happened and he leapt to his feet.
"Oh no! She's after her! I've got to stop my sister before she does anything she'll regret!" Trace cried, running off towards Mt. Moon as well.
Inside the cave, June ran as fast as she could. Mt. Moon was a huge mountain with large, spiralling tunnels and caves that a trainer could easily get lost in if they weren't careful. It was very dark inside but Ray solved that issue. He used his electrical abilities to make his body glow as a sort of makeshift lantern so June could see where she was going. She ran through a tunnel and looked over her shoulder. She couldn't see Tricia behind her so with any luck, she was successfully losing her. She looked ahead to see that they were reaching the end of the tunnel. They shot out and found themselves in a large, spacious cavern that had several other tunnels up ahead. June had no idea where any of them were going to lead so she didn't dare pick any. She could get lost forever if she did that. But June then saw there was a staircase leading to an upper level of the cave. The staircase was clearly manmade for it didn't match the rest of the cave and a railing had even been added for climbers to hold onto. Hopefully Tricia wouldn't find her up here. June ran up the staircase and darted into the upper floor. There was another cavern at the top and it led to a single tunnel up ahead. June ran through the tunnel and came out the other side…only to find she'd run into a dead end. There were no more tunnels to go through and there were no holes to hide in. If Tricia found her here, she'd be cornered. But Tricia likely wouldn't find her up here for she wouldn't have seen where she went. For now, she was safe.
June collapsed against the wall and panted heavily. She could feel herself about to have another panic attack but she clamped down on her anxieties. Don't panic! Remember what mum and dad taught you! June closed her eyes and thought back to the other day. She imagined herself holding Hop's hand again and breathing in time with him. She inhaled and exhaled slowly to ease her nerves. To help her further, Ray lay cuddled up in her lap so she could stroke him. June ran her hands down Ray's back and felt his soft, fuzzy fur. Running her hands through his fur like this felt very therapeutic for June. With one last gentle sigh, she allowed herself to relax. She smiled down at Ray appreciatively.
"Thank you Ray. That really helped." the young trainer said kindly.
"You look like you needed a Pikachu in your lap so I provided you one." Ray said brightly, "You've been doing whatever is necessary to protect me from Team Rocket so I'm helping you in return."
"Aww, you big sweetheart." June said appreciatively, "Thank you so much!"
She hugged Ray in gratitude.
"But we can't relax just yet." June said grimly, "We're safe for now, but we still need to get out of this cave. And who knows how long that'll take with how big this place is…"
"We also need to go back for Trace. We left the poor guy behind!" Ray acknowledged.
"TRACE! Oh my god, how awful of me! How could I just abandon him like that while saving my own skin?!" June shrieked in horror, "I bet he's worried sick about us! I best call him and let him know we're OK!"
She frantically scrambled for her Rotom phone and dialled Trace's number.
"Trace? It's June! Can you hear me?" she asked.
Her response was only static. June's blood began to run cold. Please don't let it be that Mt. Moon eliminated all phone signals while she was in it!
"Trace, please answer!" June pleaded.
"There'll be no calling for help little June. And it's for the best we keep my little brother out of our battle…"
June thought her heart was going to stop as Tricia suddenly emerged from the tunnel ahead like a vampire stepping out of the shadows to bite her next victim. She'd found her! June also saw that Tricia's Magneton was why Trace wasn't responding. With Magneton's powerful electrical field, there was no chance of her making a call now. She wouldn't even be able to call Ruby and Hop for help. She was on her own! June pressed her back against the wall and whimpered feebly as Tricia came up to her. The Rocket Grunt smirked, clearly pleased she had her prey where she wanted her. Gyarados and Magneton were beside her, further blocking June's escape. The Galarian girl was going nowhere.
"You gave me quite a chase, but it seems you've run out of places to run." Tricia purred, "Now if we can just have Ray back, I'll be on my way."
"Please Tricia, just stop this madness!" June begged, "You really want to keep stealing Pokémon, especially now your brother knows you're with Team Rocket? Do you even care how upset he is, knowing this is what you're doing?"
"Don't try to guilt-trip me June. It won't work." Tricia muttered, "Yes I do care how upset Trace is, but he'll come to understand that I have his best interests at heart."
"So you call stealing Pokémon and attacking innocent trainers his "best interests"? Trace would never have asked that from you!" June retorted.
"If you knew what we were going through, you'd understand!" Tricia spat, "But that's neither here nor there. You have two choices: surrender Ray peacefully or fight me! What's it going to be?"
June knew that this was a sadistic choice at its most blatant. How could she possibly pick when BOTH options were horrible?! She obviously wasn't going to give up Ray but she was no match for Tricia! How could she possibly fight her? But it seemed Ray was going to make up June's mind for her for he stood his ground and glared at Tricia. His eyes narrowed and his cheeks crackled with electricity.
"Ray, no! We can't fight her! She's too powerful!" June cried.
"Well it's either that or you give me up, and I ain't going without a fight!" Ray declared, "I'm gonna fight whether you like it or not! Are you with me?!"
June wanted to object but in the end, she knew that Ray had the right idea. As hopeless as it seemed, they would have to fight. Anything was better than just giving Tricia what she wanted. June sighed and reached in her bag for her Pokéballs. She threw them all and brought out all the Pokémon she currently had on her. Ace, Paige and Victoria materialized besides Ray. If Tricia wanted Ray, she had to go through all of them!
"We're ALL with you Ray!" June cried bravely, "We'll beat her no matter what it takes!"
Tricia gave a smile of approval.
"So it's a battle then. Good." she purred, "I'd much rather fight for my prize than take it with no struggle. Now let's see if those skills you used against Brock help you battle any better than last time…"
She commanded Gyarados to use Liquidation and Magneton to use Zap Cannon. Both Pokémon launched their attacks but June's team dodged quickly. The water and electric attacks missed their targets and punched a crater into the floor where they hit. Now her Pokémon were out of their way, June ordered Ray and Ace to attack Gyarados while Paige and Victoria to attack Magneton. Ray used Thunder Shock and Ace used Wing Attack on Gyarados while Paige used Low Kick and Victoria used Double Kick. Her Pokémon landed their hits and both Gyarados and Magneton were knocked backwards by the blows. Tricia noticed straight away that June's Pokémon were already showing signs of improvement from last time as even Ray's Thunder Shock seemed to hurt Gyarados more than before. This battle was going to be more fun than she expected!
"At least this won't be a quick and easy curbstomp like last time." Tricia said gladly, "I prefer a challenge. Gyarados, Protect! Magneton, Discharge!"
Gyarados conjured up an energy barrier that covered it and kept it safe from harm as Magneton unleashed a huge wave of electricity that hit all four of June's Pokémon at once. Ray was barely effected by the attack but Ace got it really bad as she was weak to electric attacks. Paige and Victoria just about managed to hold on. Ace was lucky she'd evolved last night otherwise that would've been a one-hit KO. She was left very weak but not out of the battle yet. June's Pokémon picked themselves up and shook off the pain. Their trainer smiled happily. This fight was far from over!
"It'll take more than that to stop us!" June declared, "Ray, Thunder Shock on Gyarados again! Ace, use Twister on Gyarados! Paige and Victoria, Low Kick and Double Kick that Magneton!"
Ray leapt into the air and fired a Thunder Shock at Gyarados while Ace flapped her wings and sent a dragon-powered tornado whooshing towards the sea-serpent Pokémon. Gyarados swiped with its tail to intercept the attacks with Liquidation but it didn't stop them. Thunder Shock and Twister still hit Gyarados in a double barrage of hard-hitting attacks. Paige grabbed Victoria and launched her towards Magneton. Victoria aimed with her feet and kicked Magneton twice while Paige followed up with a kick of her own. Magneton let out an electronic wail as it was pummelled by the two Pokémon. Gyarados and Magneton regained themselves and stuck back. Magneton used Tri-Attack while Gyarados used Crunch. Magneton blasted Paige and Victoria with a beam that carried a mix of fire, ice and electric powers and Gyarados bit down on Ace with a huge black energy construct that resembled a giant mouth full of teeth. Paige and Victoria were brought down and were left barely able to stand up again while Ace crashed down at June's feet with her wings in total agony. Ray was currently the only one still standing. Seeing his friends hurt like this made him more determined than ever to win. Even if he didn't like Victoria much, he never would've wanted to see her hurt like this. His body crackled with electricity and he yelled angrily.
"That does it! Nobody does that to my friends and gets away with it!" he shouted.
He then charged towards Gyarados in what looked like Quick Attack at first…but this Quick Attack seemed different. June stared in wonder as Ray launched towards Gyarados in what looked closer to Volt Tackle than Quick Attack. He was rocketing like a missile with electricity surrounding his body. Gyarados was unable to intercept and Ray ploughed straight into it with all his might. Gyarados was tackled and electrocuted both at the same time and the combined assault sent it flying backwards into a wall. Gyarados hit the wall hard and cracked it heavily. Bits of rock crumbled down on top of it. Tricia stared incredulously at what had happened. Ray stood where he was, panting heavily but very much triumphant all the same.
"And that's how it's done! Who's the mon?! That's right, it's me!" he sneered.
"Ray! What…what did you just do?!" June cried, her eyes wide with amazement.
"Huh…I don't actually know." Ray said thoughtfully, "It's like I combined my Thunder Shock with Quick Attack somehow."
"I could've sworn you just learnt Volt Tackle but that can't be. You didn't suffer any recoil damage." June observed, "So did you just invent a whole new move?!"
"Um…I think so?" Ray suggested, "I'm still not too sure what happened there myself…"
"Well whatever it was, it was awesome!" June cried excitedly, "You invented your own move! And I think I know just what to call it too. Given it was an electric-powered Quick Attack, I think we should call it Zippy Zap! It's perfect!"
"Sounds like a lame attack name if you ask me but like I can think up anything better." Ray chuckled, "So we'll stick with Zippy Zap!"
Tricia was still trying to process what had just happened. How did this Pikachu just invent a new move right off the bat and successfully pull it off?! Her boss had said this Pikachu was a rarity amongst its kind for it seemed abnormally stronger than the average Pikachu but he hadn't indicated it was anything like this! No wonder she was tasked with getting it back!
"That was…impressive." Tricia acknowledged, "VERY impressive. Fancy inventing a new move on the fly when backed into a corner like that. I doubt even your mother could've done that June. But this "Zippy Zap" of yours won't stop me. Not when I have Mega Evolution at my disposal!"
She was about to reach for her Gyaradosite when suddenly, the floor beneath their feet started to rumble. June and Tricia wobbled furiously. What was happening?! Was it an earthquake?! Then they realized. Gyarados had hit the wall harder than they thought. The cracks grew and grew until eventually, they caused the floor to disintegrate right under their feet. June and Tricia screamed at the top of their lungs as they plummeted down the chasm that had been opened up. Their Pokémon fell down with them. June quickly returned Victoria and Paige to their balls while Ray clung onto her shirt and Ace swooped down after her. Tricia returned Gyarados while Magneton zoomed down after her. June was saved in the nick of time as Ace grabbed her arm with her feet and Tricia was able to grab Magneton's magnets. But the cave-in grew worse and more rocks fell down after the two. A thunderous rumble echoed all around the cave as rocks tumbled down. Ace flew around frantically to try and dodge the rocks. Some rocks landed on Magneton but its Steel-typing allowed it to shrug off the blows. The two were close to the ground and just as they were about to land, a large rock struck Magneton and threw it off-balance. It came down too quickly and both it and Tricia ended up crashing in a heap together while Ace was able to land safely down on the ground with June in her talons. The chasm had opened up and dropped them all the way down to the bottom floor of Mt. Moon.
Now June was safe on the ground, she returned Ace and dove for cover as more rocks continued to crash down. The noise was deafening and June's ears winced as they crashed down one after the other. It seemed as if it was never going to stop. Then eventually, the rocks stopped falling. The silence that followed made June feel as if she'd just died for a moment. She had to make herself cough just to see if she could hear the noise. She heard it, therefore she was still alive. The cave-in was over and despite the close call, they had made it without so much as a scratch on them. That was lucky. June had expected to at least break something. She sighed with relief and brushed dust off of herself.
"Whew…that was intense! But we're alive at least!" June cried in exasperation, "That really was a lucky escape! Good thing we had Ace there or we would've cracked our skulls open on those rocks!"
"I'm sorry I almost killed us all." Ray said apologetically, "I clearly put too much power in that Zippy Zap."
"It's OK Ray. You were just fighting to protect me and your friends." June said understandingly, "You didn't mean for this to happen. If anyone's to blame, it's Tricia. If she hadn't started this fight, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
That suddenly made her realize something: what happened to Tricia? Did she die? June hoped not. She hated the thought of having to tell Trace his sister was dead. Ray provided some light for June to see. She gasped with relief to see that indeed, Tricia wasn't dead. While June had had a safe landing, Tricia hadn't. She was covered in cuts, scrapes and dirt and some of her uniform had been torn from the fall. Her Magneton lay unconscious beside her. Tricia's left leg had gotten the worst of it. Tricia lay against a rock with her hands clamped tight around her thigh. A huge gash had been torn in it after she'd crashed into the ground with Magneton. Blood seeped from the wound. Tricia wouldn't be walking anytime soon. June could see that Tricia was in terrible shape…and she could also see that despite them being enemies, she had to help her.
"She's really hurt! I've got to get her out of here!" June cried.
"Wait, WHAT?!" Ray shrieked in disbelief, "Did I hear that right?! You're ACTUALLY going to help her?!"
"Of course I am!" June scoffed, "What do you think I'm gonna do? Leave her to die?"
"I like that plan!" Ray insisted, "It's the least she deserves for what she's done to us!"
"Ray! Shame on you!" June scolded, "I know Tricia's part of Team Rocket but that's no reason to want her dead! Besides, she's Trace's sister! How am I going to explain to my friend that I left his sister to die in a cave? He'll never forgive me for that! I've got to save her, for Trace's sake!"
"I'm just gonna put my paws together and pray you're not serious!" Ray exclaimed.
"I AM serious!" June shouted, "I understand your feelings Ray but I'm NOT having a dead body on my conscience! Leaving someone to die instead of helping them is still murder after all and no way am I stooping to that level, even if she keeps trying to kidnap you! I'm helping her and that's the end of this discussion!"
Ray balked at June's sharp tone of voice. When did she become so brave and hot-headed all of a sudden?! This June was not the same girl he'd met back in Pallet Town! He still objected to this idea but he knew deep down that June was right. Tricia was a criminal, but did that give them the right to be a criminal back? And Trace wouldn't be happy if they did leave her for dead. Criminal or not, she was still his sister after all. With any luck, maybe being nice to Tricia would tempt her to leave them alone. June and Ray came up to Tricia. The Rocket Grunt was breathing heavily, biting down on the pain in her leg. She was clutching her wound as if trying to keep the blood from seeping out of it. June knelt down beside Tricia. She held her hands.
"Oh don't do that." she said softly, "Here, I can help you."
Tricia gritted her teeth and snarled like an enraged Growlithe at June.
"Get away from me!" she growled, "This is all your fault! If you'd just given me that damn Pikachu instead of being so stubborn, we wouldn't be in this situation!"
"Oh, so I'm supposed to just give you my precious Pikachu without objection?" June retorted, "Oh yeah, that's totally how life works! You brought this on yourself Tricia so don't you dare lay this at my feet!"
"You could've made this easy for both of us and we would've avoided this cave-in but no, you had to make things hard for us and get us caught up in this mess!" Tricia snarled.
"You're the one that chose to be a criminal and antagonize innocent trainers!" June snapped, "This is nobody's fault but yours! Now shut the hell up so I can bandage that leg up of yours and get you out of this cave! ALRIGHT?!"
Tricia was speechless. After everything she'd done to June, the little brat still wanted to help her? She hadn't expected this. She still felt this was June's fault, but what good would playing the blame game do her? June was her only chance of escaping this cave with her life so she had to play nice for now. She was also impressed with June's attitude. Somehow winning her first Gym Badge seemed to have given her more of a spine. She no longer seemed like the weak little coward she'd once confronted back in Viridian Forest. She hated to admit it, but she was growing fonder of the little twerp.
"Since when did you grow a pair of balls?" Tricia remarked, a tone of admiration in her voice.
June just giggled meekly.
"I guess I never knew I had it in me." she said bashfully, "Now hold still. This might sting a little…"
She reached into her backpack and pulled out a First-Aid kit that Ruby had insisted she pack to take on her journey. She took out some antiseptic wipes and dabbed them on Tricia's wound to try and stop the bleeding and also prevent any risk of infection later. Tricia gritted her teeth and hissed with pain but allowed June to continue her work. Once June was done, she got out some bandages and wrapped up Tricia's leg. June swore that she saw Tricia blush as her hands wound the bandage around her thigh. She blushed herself for she couldn't help but think Tricia had nice legs. June pulled the bandages tight and knotted them up to keep them from coming undone. Tricia stretched her leg out to let it rest. The wound stung like mad but it would get much better soon now it had been properly bandaged up. She turned to June.
"Um…thanks, I guess." she said awkwardly, "As weird as it may be, I do appreciate you doing this for me."
"We may be enemies, but that doesn't mean I have to be as horrible as you." June remarked, "I would never forgive myself if I just left you to die. And Trace would never forgive me either. As shocking as this was for him, I bet he still loves you dearly."
"Oh he does. My sweet little brother loves me to the moon and back." Tricia said, her voice full of fondness for her brother, "I'd do anything for him. And I do mean ANYTHING."
June could see that for herself. She began to wonder if Trace was the reason why she'd joined Team Rocket to begin with.
"So you're doing this for him, huh?" she asked.
"That's none of your business." Tricia said bluntly, "Just cause you're helping me, doesn't mean I'm suddenly opening up to you. We are still enemies after all."
"But we don't have to be." June insisted, "I'd much rather if we were friends. Whatever reason you have for joining Team Rocket, maybe I can help you. If you just tell me and help me understand you, I…"
"Just drop it, OK? I don't want to talk about it." Tricia muttered, "I hadn't even meant to let it slip in the first place. Let's just focus on getting out of here."
"Fine, be a jerk." June grumbled indignantly, "But you at least owe your brother an explanation. Next time you see him, you owe it to yourself to tell him why you're a criminal now."
Tricia winced at such a thought.
"I doubt he'll even want to speak to me again now he knows." she said solemnly, "I'd hoped to keep this secret from him and just let him think I was on a long journey. But now he knows, he'll hate me forever. Even if I explain to him why, he'll still want nothing to do with me anymore."
She put a hand to her mouth and forced herself to choke back tears that started to well up in her eyes. June put a hand to Tricia's shoulder and smiled sympathetically at her.
"He'll understand, I know he will." June insisted, "He won't hate you. I bet he's worried sick about you and just wants you to be safe."
"Yeah…maybe he is." Tricia said grimly, "At least I can feel happy knowing he's as far away from this as possible. I don't know what I'd do if he'd gotten caught up in this cave-in. Speaking of, any ideas how we'll escape?"
"I'll figure something out." June said, sounding unsure of herself, "But we're going to have to work together on this. If you want to escape, then you need to let me help you. Don't even think of stabbing me in the back. We get out together, or not at all. Understand?"
"Completely." Tricia said agreeably, "You're helping me now, the least I can do is be nice for you. And truth be told…I kinda wish we could be friends too." she admitted, "Spying on you back at your holiday house and seeing what a nice, friendly girl you are, I'd much rather befriend that kind of person than antagonize them."
June blushed with pleasure. She wasn't sure what to say about that. Ray just pulled a face and said nothing. He was sure Tricia was just trying to flatter June so she'd lower her guard and then she could betray her and steal him later. June reached down to help Tricia get back to her feet. As she did so, a low rumbling noise made her bones shake with terror. Tricia gulped.
"W-w-what was that?!" she shrieked.
It was the first time since they'd met that June had ever heard Tricia show genuine fear. June looked around nervously. She was as scared as Tricia was. She heard the rumbling noise again. Now she was more focused on the sound, she knew exactly what they were dealing with.
"Um…Tricia?" June said worriedly, "You know how we're in Mt. Moon right now? Well that rumbling noise tells me we're about to meet one of its occupants!"
She was right. Ray provided enough light for June to see that they weren't alone in this cave. Looming above them and glowering down at them with huge, angry eyes was an enormous Onix! This Onix towered over the two teens, even seeming to make Brock's Onix look small by comparison. June imagined she and Tricia had accidentally fallen into its territory and now it was mad. It opened its mouth and bellowed a thunderous roar that made the ceiling shudder. Then it lashed out to attack the intruders…
Pokémon obtained: Victoria the Nidoran
Pokémon evolved: Ace the Pidgey, now Ace the Pidgeotto
Another encounter with Tricia ends with her and June stuck in a cave and having to work together to get out. How long will that truce last? And what will happen now they're confronted by an Onix? Looks like the girls are well caught "Between An Onix And A Hard Place" next time...
Trivia: I was going to reveal Tricia's full backstory here but I decided not to in the end because it still felt too soon for a big reveal so I'm saving it for their next encounter.
Trace's team is also going to be different from what it was in the games as you can see. He never uses a Nidoran or a Bulbasaur at ANY point in the Let's Go games. I'm changing things up to make him a stronger trainer and to also give an idea on what Pokémon he uses over the course of this journey. What will his Champion team look like? You'll find out when that time comes. ;)
June naming her Nidoran Victoria is obvious. What could be more fitting than naming a future Nidoqueen after one of England's most famous, historical monarchs? ;) Don't expect her to say "I am NOT amused!" though. I'm not making such an obvious joke. =P
This chapter had to essentially be split into two parts because it felt like I was trying to do too much at once and thus for pacing reasons, the next chapter will conclude this plot-point instead of right now.
Oh and Tricia owning a Magneton was inspired by the recent episodes of Pokémon Horizons in where Explorers Admin Spinel uses a Magneton, and he too uses it to block phone signals to stop anyone calling for help. I thought it provided a convenient excuse for June and Trace to be unable to call each other for help in this scenario.