John's Team
Tyrant - Slaking
Vordt - Ursaluna
Smough - Snorlax
Klee - Blissey
Port - Mantine
Zephyr - Pidgeot
Klaus - Wyrdeer
Luna - Clefable
Pixel - Porygon2
Euphie - Sylveon
Ornstein - Obstagoon
Wraith - H-Zoroark
The New Normal – 11-5 – Big Steps
To my surprise, things were moving much faster than I had expected over the next few days with our progress in uncovering the public shield that Team Galactic were hiding behind.
Lorelei had told me that thanks to her one of her subordinates, which I later learned was actually Looker, they had a lead that they were working towards that they hoped would provide some evidence of wrongdoing.
It wasn't anywhere close to a jackpot, but it was a good find. It also injected some much needed motivation and direction to the analysts, since now they actually had a direction to work towards instead of fruitlessly going through endless paperwork.
However, on Drake's and my end, we didn't have anything to do that could help them. Our raid at Floaroma Town didn't lead to any more clues, though I did hear that there were a few arrests that were made, but other than that it was mostly just used as a PR event like we were told it would be. So we were mostly paraded around as pictures were taken for the news to publish headlines about how we were 'fighting back hard' against the sudden spike in crime.
Which wasn't actually wrong.
And for once, I didn't mind too much that I was being used as a PR piece. I knew how important it was to reassure the public of Sinnoh that our joint efforts here were actually making a positive difference in improving the situation. Plus, I was keenly aware that the more the public could see about what I – and by extension the rest of Indigo – could accomplish with Sinnoh, the more accepting the public would be of my relationship with Cynthia.
I knew that despite Wallace's inspirational words in support of our relationship, there were still some that were on the fence about an Elite Four from Indigo dating the Champion of Sinnoh. I hoped that my continued support for the benefit of Sinnoh would help convince some of the fence-sitters that our relationship would only be advantageous to our regions.
I trusted that Cynthia and I were both working very hard to make our relationship a political reality.
Outside of that, Whitney and Sabrina ended up publishing their discovery about the new Farigiraf evolution, following advice from Sabrina's parents. It wasn't the most exciting of evolutions to have been discovered; Girafarig were never very popular Pokémon to be used in high level battling due to their relatively weak potential and rarity, but any newly discovered evolution was always going to be very popular in the news.
However, the fact that this evolution was endorsed by the Psychic Gym of Kanto meant that there was a lot of extra credibility to the strength of the evolution. That was certainly reflected in the large amount of activity on the Pokénet, where there was much discussion about the potential uses of Farigiraf and if it should become a staple in high level Psychic teams.
They very wisely pointed out that having a Psychic type that was immune to Ghost type damage was very valuable. Especially one that was relatively bulky compared to other Psychic types that also potentially doubled as a physical attacker if needed. There were only a few Psychic types that could actually fight back on the physical side of things, so having another option was very useful.
Of course people were comparing Farigiraf to Wyrdeer, since they shared the same type and were similar in many ways. In fact, that was the main points of discussion that I saw, with many arguing who was the better Pokémon between the two.
I didn't care so much about that and instead focused more on what this discovery meant for Whitney. The news had dug up her relation to me, and therefore were drawing comparisons with her discovery of Farigiraf and my discovery of Wyrdeer and Ursaluna. While that did put her under my shadow once again, it undoubtedly helped spread her name to the wider world.
Not to be arrogant, but the fact that she was seen as following in my footsteps was a good thing. I knew that she wanted to pave her own path, but I was happy for her to use my reputation as a stepping stone for her to get started. She wasn't going to become an overnight sensation from this one discovery alone, but I was confident she could build something up from this just like I did.
I would keep a close eye on this to see if there were any further developments. Fame could cut both ways, and while I was confident that Katrina and Samson would help, I wanted to make sure I was there to support my sister in case of any controversy came her way for whatever reason.
Moving on from all that, today was an exciting day for me. Since we had done all the flag waving that we needed to do, that meant that Drake and I's schedule were mostly free. For Drake, this meant that he was able to start doing some cave diving to get acclimatised to everything in preparation for our big expedition. I also joined in a few of those, since I wanted to remind myself about the potential dangers that I would have to stay alert for.
According to what the explorers told me, we were aiming to go even further than where we got to last time, thanks to the fact that we could rest and set off from the forward base from the get go. Still, that didn't make the expedition any easier.
Fortunately, though it came to little surprise to me, it turned out that Drake was predictably adept at cave delving. He took to it like a Salamence to the skies, and those that were tasked with guiding him had nothing but praise for his ability to adapt to the unusual and normally dangerous conditions of the caves.
"Even if I didn't know he was an Elite Four member, I would still be impressed by Drake's stamina." One of the explorers told me, "You would have thought that he had done cave diving for years rather than just a few days."
"I still dive with my Pokémon, son. And let me tell you that the waves around Route 132 and Pacifidlog Town aren't any less dangerous than the shit that you have to deal with in caves." Drake smirked proudly, "Have you tried running away from an angry Sharpedo when you're getting pushed into one by the oncoming waves? Good times."
"…How did you get out of that one?" I had to ask.
"I punched it in the nose and kicked it in the jaw to buy time for my Gyarados to deal with it." Drake grinned, his eyes taking on a nostalgic gleam, "That was one of my prouder moments."
The explorers and I shared the same look of bewilderment and confusion; all of us sharing the same silent agreement that we wouldn't prod into more of Drake's wild past.
With that insanity out of the way, we had gotten ready and heading towards the entrance to the caves once more, setting off for another expedition. Cynthia was unfortunately unable to join us due to having her own obligations to deal with, but she sent her well wishes to all of us regardless.
As we headed there, I noticed that a small little pink tent that was decorated with a Wigglytuff's face had been set up right outside the cave. I turned to one of the explorers with a questioning look.
"Oh? That?" He chuckled, "Yeah, we noticed that there was a group of Pokémon that liked to hang out outside the cave and munch on apples. No idea why they do so, but they seem like they were friends, so we built them this little tent that they can use to hangout. I think a Bidoof has joined them too."
"Yeah, they're like our mascot or something." Another explorer said, "Dunno what they're doing here, but they're cute. I see them roleplaying around like a guild or something."
I smiled, "I see. That's very fitting." I silently wished the new guild all the best in their adventures. Maybe one day they'll get to explore the very skies themselves.
The banter all cut off as we entered the caves. Without the reporters joining us, this time there was no excuses for unprofessionalism. As stacked and as experienced as our team was, we knew how important it was to manage our energy and make sure we didn't engage in unnecessary fights. So we all kept silent and alert as we carefully, but quickly, headed down the caves towards the forward base.
We got lucky this time round and weren't harassed by many wild Pokémon. A Hippowdon had tried to ambush us with an Earthquake, but it was swiftly spotted and taken out before it could wreak havoc through our group.
Therefore, we made good time as we arrived at the forward base, which had really been revamped and developed since I was last here. Instead of the ramshackle and haphazardly set up tents and equipment like it was before, the new forward base almost reminded of a military outpost, with sandbags, stocks of food, and a heavy patrol of trainers surrounding the perimeter to make sure that no wild Pokémon could come barrelling in and destroying everything in sight.
While we all took a quick break to rest up and restock on our supplies of potion and food, I spent the hour chatting to a few people that I recognised to pass the time. Drake did the same, though he mostly spoke to the Ace trainers that were in charge of the perimeter as he asked about the strength of the local wild Pokémon. We also switched to much more cold-resistant clothing and equipment.
After our hour of rest, we did another reminder of our route down before we steeled ourselves and set off into the darkness and icy depths once again.
The sudden drop to freezing temperatures, although expected, was an instant reminder of the dangerous adventure that we were about to head into, and our descent continued even slower and even more methodical than ever. Even Drake, who had been boasting about being as resilient as it came, quickly adopted a look of focus as the wave of frost enveloped him.
I didn't know how long it took, but we eventually found our way back to that big cave opening that we were in last time, which was where Cynthia and I ended up catching Wraith and Kleavor respectively. However, this time round, the opening didn't contain any undiscovered Pokémon, just the typical Pokémon you'd expect to see this far underground, such as Mamoswine, Probopass, and the like.
This was where we paused to take stock of the situation. In order to continue downwards we would have to cross through the large opening, but doing so would undoubtedly attract the attention of everything here. Which was why we had to retreat last time.
But Drake put it best, "We have to fight anyways, so might as well do it on our terms." He said, "Start off strong and scare them off with our power." A round of nods was his response.
So our group retreated back up the path for a moment to release our Pokémon in cover and out of sight, before we charged back into the fray surrounded by the roars of our Pokémon.
"Hydro Pump, Blastoise!"
"Hyper Beam, Smough!"
Our two Pokémon stood side by side as they both unleashed a torrent of water and energy respectively that ripped through all that they came across. The wild Pokémon were startled out of their idling as the twin beams wreaked havoc amongst their ranks, with many of them gasping or shrieking in surprise at the sudden attack.
Any Pokémon caught within the beam found themselves quickly pinned to the walls and mercilessly knocked out.
Then Vordt came charging forwards, the earth shaking and quaking as he did while he left a deep trench in the ground in his wake. Rocks were torn out from the walls as they flanked his charge, creating a storm of rocks that came hurling towards the unprepared wild Pokémon. Those that had managed to avoid the twin beams of Smough and Blastoise now found themselves facing down a barrage of rocks that were no less devastating in their terrifying power.
A lone Mamoswine that tried to stop him was shouldered out of the way and knocked onto the ground dismissively as if it was nothing more than an afterthought. Another Walrein was unable to escape out of the way in time and had a Hammer Arm smashed into its stomach, sending the wild Pokémon crashing into the nearby wall.
Since the opening was so large, we had all released our full roster of Pokémon in a show of intimidation and force, attacking quickly and in all directions to scare away the wild Pokémon before they could regroup and counterattack.
All that could be heard within the opening were the sounds of destruction and battle as we all unleashed every attack that we could. Drake's Gyarados was a whirlwind of violence and power as it rampaged through the wild Pokémon, joining my Vordt in creating as much havoc and chaos as possible as it tore through the ranks of the wild Pokémon with a storm of Aqua Tails and Iron Heads.
Unlike last time, this time the trainers accompanying us were far more prepared, and a violent barrage of Psychics, Flamethrowers, Ice Beams came firing in all directions as we pushed forwards as fast and as aggressively as we could, showing no mercy to whatever stood in our way.
All resistance was quickly and efficiently shut down. It didn't matter how outnumbered we were by the wild Pokémon, our assault was so surprising and brutal that it managed to send the fear of Arceus into their hearts and frighten them away.
Unorganised and undisciplined, the wild Pokémon almost unanimously decided that retreat was the better part of valour and quickly escaped from the opening, choosing to turn and run rather than fight; with many of them dispersing before they could get caught up in our ruthless assault.
The 'battle', if you could even call it that, hardly lasted over a minute. But the result was that the clearing had gotten even larger than before thanks to the wanton devastation that we had wrecked through it.
Loose rocks were slowly falling from the ceiling, new craters had been smashed into the floor and walls, while long trenches of destruction now marked the clearing.
It was fortunate that there was nothing of historical value here.
"Hmph. Cowards. They should have stood and fought." Drake grumbled as he withdrew his Pokémon.
"It was best that they didn't." I placated, "We had to retreat last time because we got so overwhelmed."
"Bah. It would've been a good fight." He frowned, but I knew he was just complaining for the sake of it. So after we withdrew most of our Pokémon, checked that the cave wasn't about to collapse on us due to our violent bombardment of attacks, we continued forwards, heading into now unexplored territory.
As we travelled further down, we had to deal with whatever remnants of the fleeing Pokémon that had just escaped our terrible onslaught. But since they were no longer in such big numbers, it was relatively easy to deal with them in their smaller groups.
No, the bigger problem had nothing to do with the wild Pokémon. Instead, it was the constantly dropping temperatures that seemed to grow colder with no end in sight. I could literally feel the frost seeping up my specialised cold-resistant clothes.
Fortunately, we had not come unprepared. Even as cold as it was, the experienced explorers were ready. Additional Fire Pokémon were sent out, using their natural heat to stave away the cold. Carefully insulated Heat Rocks were also taken out and stuffed into everyone's pockets. Some guy even took out a box containing a Magmariser to serve as a super-charged Heat Rock.
That last guy got some weird looks when he did so. A Magmariser was too expensive to be used as a mere Heat Rock.
Don't get me wrong, it was still freezing cold, and we were forced to stick near our Fire type Pokémon to even stay reasonably warm, but it was manageable and the explorers reassured us that we were at no threat of frostbite for now. I had never been so thankful to see a Rapidash before in my life.
"…I'll be happy to get back to Hoenn after this." Drake whispered to me as we slowly headed down, "I don't think I've ever felt so fucking cold in my life."
"That's why I told Cynthia that the beaches of Hoenn are way better than this." I whispered back.
"Fucking Mt. Chimney would be better than this shit." He complained, "Exciting or not, I prefer to be able to feel my fucking face."
I didn't disagree, but I kept my complaining to myself as I tried to keep as quiet as possible while we continued moving. It was at this point that one of our explorers spoke up.
"This cold isn't natural." He whispered to us, "That's something that we long suspected about these caves. We initially guessed that it might be due to all the Ice types living here, but even then, the temperature shouldn't be dropping this much so quickly. But now that we are actually here to take readings, we're sure that this cold cannot be normal."
Someone rolled their eyes, "I think the large ice crystals that are hanging off of every wall could have told us that. Look at them. They're the size of my arm! And there's thousands of them!"
He wasn't wrong. As kept heading down, the cave systems that we explored were literally entirely frozen over. This far down, everything was just ice and frost, and large pieces of ice were jutting out everywhere. The more haunting part of it was that there wasn't a single non-Ice type Pokémon in sight. It was then that a thought came to me.
"Hey…could you try melting the ice with your Infernape?" I asked one of the explorers.
He nodded and ordered his Infernape to do so. However, as the flames washed over the ice, the ice refused to melt. Even as Infernape powered up his Flamethrower so that it covered the whole wall, the ice remained as firm and solid as ever.
"…I think that just proves it." I pointed out, getting various nods of agreement from the group.
"Let me try." Drake stepped up with his Kingdra as it unleashed a Hyper Beam that cut into the walls. My eyes widened as the beam was only able to drill a small hole into the frozen wall, managing to penetrate – but not nearly as far as expected.
And this was from Drake's Kingdra, a Pokémon who's Hyper Beam was strong enough to have brought down many an Elite Pokémon in the past. There was no way regular ice would have been able to resist it – and would have simply been sheared through by such a powerful Hyper Beam.
This unnatural resilience proved that something wasn't quite right here, and everyone knew it.
The confirmation of this strange phenomenon caused a wave of tension to flood over the group. This was a whole different experience from finding ruins or a new Pokémon. This was something completely unknown, and none of us had ever experienced something like this before.
Still, we weren't cowards, so we swallowed whatever unease we might have felt and continued on our expedition, taking pictures as we went to document this phenomenon for future study.
Time passed slowly but tensely. The air only continued to grow colder and colder as we made our descent. Despite all of our preparations, the cold was starting to get to us, and there were a few muttered concerns that we might not be able to continue if it grew any colder.
Fortunately, that never became a concern as we suddenly stopped at an enormous drop that overlooked a huge clearing that was teeming to brim with Ice type Pokémon – as if we had stumbled onto a huge nest of them.
No, it was more than a nest. It was an army.
My gut was screaming at me that whatever was the cause of this unnatural coldness could be found down there.
However, besides their sheer numbers, there was another Pokémon that caught our attention as it lumbered around slowly like a massive block of sentient ice and rock, looking like a mini-glacier had just uprooted itself and grown legs. There were also a few, smaller Pokémon that looked like miniature ice spikes following after them.
The shocked gasps told me that I was the only one who recognised them for what they were. They were Hisuian-Avalugg and Bergmite.
The snap of a camera drew my attention away, and I saw that the explorers were very carefully leaning over the big drop to take photos of the new Pokémon. But Drake had a more considering look on his face.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked him.
"Whether we can take them all on." He answered.
"You can't be serious." One of the explorers said to Drake, "Don't you see how many of them there are? You might both be Elite Four, but you're incredibly weak to Ice types, Drake. And even if you weren't – we're still massively outnumbered."
"No, we can take them." He grinned, "We're not in a trainer battle right now. Didn't we already chase away a huge group by scaring them off? There's no way we can't replicate that once again. And, like it or not, but we need to get down there. I bet you we'll find something."
"I agree." I spoke up before they could argue against him, "I know everyone's a little tense from the cold, but put it this way, we've already spent the better half of a day just to get down this far. And there's every possibility that we won't be able to retrace our steps if we choose to head back up."
"Yes, we're outnumbered, but we're not fighting one on one right now. If we make use of wide-area attacks, we can overcome our huge number disadvantage." I said, before adopting a more aggressive tone as I pressed my point, "Look, we have an unknown Pokémon right below us. We already had one strange Sneasel escape us, we can't let that happen again. Even if we find nothing else, just being able to capture and document this new Pokémon would make the expedition worth it."
My words seemed to be reaching them, but Drake spoke up again before they could voice any more concerns.
"John and I are heading down there, whether you like it or not." He said firmly, "So show your bravery and fight alongside us."
"And I will be joining them." One of our more experienced explorers said, "I understand that we've been a little unsettled thanks to this freezing cold, but you need to remember your strength. Remember your confidence, and why you were chosen to become explorers. You knew the risks, and you knew that you were able to surpass them."
"…That's true…but once we drop down there, we won't be able to escape unless we drive the wild Pokémon out completely." One of them spoke up uncertainly, "There will be no retreating."
"Then you will just have to fight harder, wouldn't you?" Drake smiled viciously, "Look, John and I will have your back, and we realise that this is technically your expedition, but didn't you bring us down here because you wanted to make use of our strengths?"
He spread out his arms, "Well we're here now, so you better fucking make use of us."
The explorers had a brief discussion amongst themselves, but I watched as their faces turned from concerned and worried to ones filled with a familiar determination and resolve. They were no longer rattled by the cold.
A single nod from them told me what I needed to know.
A smile formed on my lips, "Then let's ready up. We have an army to scatter."
A.N. The cave exploration returns! And yes, there's something unusual going on here this far down in the caves, and maybe some of you might be able to guess what's causing this unnatural drop in temperature. But either way, there's about to be a big battle happening here. It's quality vs quantity! Hope you enjoyed the cave diving!
And to anyone who wants to support me, please check out my p atreon at CartecTNN where you can read 8 advanced chapters! Thanks to those who have supported me already!