Chapter 24
The wind whipped by my face as I flailed around, tumbling helplessly in the air. Charmander had a death grip on my chest, and his tail flame was flaring and billowing in the wind stream. I fumbled for an empty pokeball, thinking that if I could get him safe, he can help me when I land, but the ball slipped out of my hands, ripped away by the sheer force of the air.
I cradled the terrified reptile in one arm, trying with the other to grab onto something, anything, to break my fall.
Out of the darkness, I saw a flat, tall stalagmite protruding from the chasm wall, and grabbed it as quickly as I could. My momentum smacked me into the side of a boulder that the stalagmite was sticking out of, and the wind got knocked out of me.
As I dangled, an unknown height above the ground, I heard a low, grumbling sound, like an industrial sized rock tumbler. A giant, luminescent eye opened up on either side of me, and my heart stopped in my chest. This was no stalagmite!
"IWAAAAAAAAARK!!!!"
Oh crap.
I reached out with the barely developed psi senses I'd been given, trying to project contrition and sincerity into my voice.
"Onix! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to fall on you! I fell down a hole!"
The giant eyes narrowed in suspicion, but I felt myself being lowered gently to the ground. Unfortunately, physics is a real thing. The pokeball I had lost had still been falling. It struck the back of the Onix's head, and it disappeared in a flash of red light. Now, since I had been literally dangling from the Onix's face, and the face had been sucked into a pokeball, I was now dangling from nothing.
Gravity promptly reasserted itself and I fell again. All of three feet before I hit the ground. The pokeball smacked my face, before it cracked in half and an angry Onix roared in my face.
"Well shit."
Avalanche was not happy. Rudely awoke from a three decade catnap by a teenage human landing on his face? Not the best way to wake up. And then the human had the audacity to attempt to capture him! The nerve! The sheer, unmitigated gall! Well, naturally, this simply couldn't stand. And besides, it had been centuries since he'd had a proper battle with a human and their pokemon.
With a joyous roar, he began to chase after the human.
As the giant rock snake rumbled along the tunnel after the fleeing young man, he exulted in the knowledge that the pokemon of the tunnel were all scattering in fear.
I ran as fast as I could, Charmander hanging onto my shoulders for dear life. And thank the heavens for him, and his tail flame, or I would've been groping in the dark.
As I looked back at the angry behemoth of stone and earth trailing behind me, I tripped over a fleshy, but hard form.
"Chop! Machop chop!"
"Shit, sorry! Run! There's an Onix!" As I ran from the Onix, I couldn't help but notice the little muscle man limping heavily, struggling to keep up. Making a snap decision, I quickly circled back, tucked the fighting type under my arm, and ran like hell. Unfortunately, we quickly hit a dead end.
I turned to face the furious Onix, and tucked both of the small Pokémon behind me. Machop was clearly in no state to battle, and Charmander was too young, we hadn't had any time to train together. I squinched my eyes, and set my stance.
Straightforward-Punch was taken aback. He had never seen a human before, but he had heard the older Machoke talking about them. Most were weaklings, small minded and honorless, seeking only cheap paths towards power. Elder Machamp, however, could sometimes be convinced to speak of his adventures from his youth. He would often weave tales of an honorable and good man, a true friend. A teacher and student all in one, but above all, an equal, a partner seeking the enlightenment through strength that all Pokémon pursue in their own way.
Unfortunately, Elder Machamp would quickly lose his enthusiasm for these tales. His human had been taken by Giratina far too soon. Straightforward-Punch had often wondered what that must be like, to travel and see things beyond the Great Rock Tunnel. Felt a modicum of shame at the current situation though, the one day he meets a human, he becomes injured to the point that he can't fight.
What kind of Pokémon can't battle? How was he supposed to prove himself if he couldn't battle the trainers Pokémon? And then the indignity of being carried like luggage as the human whisked him out of harms way. The fact that that selfsame human now stood between him and an angry stone-serpent? Straightforward-Punch was falling into outright hero worship.
Ember-of-Curiosity had skipped the falling and already outright thought of his trainer as a hero. In the short time that they had been working together, he had seen more than enough to know that this was a rare thing, a trainer worthy of respect and admiration. He would charge into a war zone for him, safe in the knowledge that Scott would be right there with him.
As the massive Onix pulled up short in front of us, I couldn't help but feel nervous trepidation in my gut. We would most likely die today. I couldnt help but worry about the rest of my Pokémon. I prayed that professor oak would take care of them.
The massive serpent glowered down at me, its eyes darting from side to side, taking in the tableau. I could hear the boulders grinding together as it lowered its face to my level. It seemed to nod its head towards charmander, with a question.
"Charmander was caught just today. He's too young. I haven't been able to train him yet."
The Onix huffed, then looked towards the Machop.
"He's not even mine. I just carried him along so he wouldn't get hurt."
"Chop! Ma ma chop, machop!"
"Ok, fine, he's not mine yet. Even if he was, he's been injured. I don't have anyone else on me at the moment." The giant eyes narrowed. "If I can get back to a city, I can get others of my team, then if you want, we can have the battle?"
The stony face creaked and groaned as the massive serpent grinned. I looked towards my two Pokémon. They both nodded eagerly. "Alright then. Onix, would you please lead us out of here? We're a bit lost."
"IWAAAAARK!"
And so we went, onward into the darkness.
Scott's Pokédex:
Caught: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Caterpie, Metapod, Butterfree, Weedle, Kakuna, Beedrill, Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Rattata, Raticate, Spearow, Fearow, Ekans, Pikachu, Sandshrew, Nidoran(F), Nidorina, Nidoran(M), Nidorino, Clefairy, Vulpix, Jigglypuff, Zubat, Golbat, Oddish x2, Paras, Parasect, Mankey, Abra, Machop, Bellsprout, Geodude, Graveler, Eevee, Pichu, Cleffa, Igglybuff, Ralts, Happini
