Chapter 9:

The Mystery of Union Cave

Phillip ran over to the group of travelers.

"What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Union Cave! It's… it's haunted!" a large man with a black beard and a sun hat shouted.

Nathan and Kathy jumped back.

"H-haunted?!" the two said in unison.

Phillip leaned his head to the side, crossing his arms and looked at Kathy and Nathan.

"It's not haunted. There's no such thing as ghosts."

"That's not true!" Nathan shouted. "I've heard tons of stories of hauntings and ghosts."

Phillip looked at him and spoke more sternly.

"There's no such thing as ghosts."

The bearded man yelled again.

"But there is! There is a terrible echo in the caves. It's full of pain. But not just that. Swarms of Zubat are randomly attacking people and their Pokemon. I'm telling you. It's haunted. Pokemon can sense these things. The Zubat wouldn't be acting so strange if there weren't ghosts and that painful cry!"

The man continued to rub his face and shake randomly. Phillip walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder leading him and the rest of his group to a nearby bench.

"Good man. Have a seat. Have some food. Get some rest. You'll be fine. Union Cave is not haunted."

Nathan grabbed his arm.

"How can you be so sure Phillip? It sounds haunted."

Kathy stepped forward.

"It does sound haunted Phillip. Are you sure we should go in there?"

Phillip stood up and walked over to Kathy.

"There's no other way to get to Azalea Town. That's the next step on our trip. Now, for the last time, Union Cave is not haunted. A lot of Pokemon give off the appearance of ghosts. There's a whole Ghost type of Pokemon. I don't know why the Zubat are acting the way they are, and I don't know what's causing the noise, but there is a reason and it's not because Union Cave is haunted. We will sleep here another night; get fresh supplies and we will head into the cave first thing tomorrow morning."

After a full night's rest and some shopping, they were fully stocked and headed into the cave first thing in the morning. The cave was pitch black. The team could barely see in front of them. Phillip sent out Mareep, and looked back to his companions.

"You should probably look away or close your eyes for this."

Phillip looked at Mareep and shouted.

"Flash attack Mareep!"

Mareep closed his eyes and sparks of lightning fired off his fur. Light shot through the entire cave. They could see the path, but visibility was still low. Phillip called Mareep back and sent out Wooper.

"Wooper, you know caves. Lead the way."

Hours passed as Wooper guided the team through the twists and turns of the cave. As they approached the exit several large boulders had been blocking the way out.

"That's unusual." Phillip thought out loud.

"Go Tyrogue!"

Phillip tried to work with Tyrogue to move several of the boulders to clear a way, but they were too large. Phillip looked at Wooper.

"Is there another way Wooper?"

Wooper led them deeper into the cave. They ran into a dead end. The only way left was down a ladder into the lower level. The next level down was filled with torches. The route was meant to be travelled.

"Something's not right Phillip… I don't like it." Nathan said.

The sound of dozens of Zubat could be heard in the distance. Kathy looked around.

"I think they're getting closer."

Suddenly a gust of wind blew out all of the torches. As the sound of the Zubat grew louder and louder. Nathan shrieked and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"It's the ghost!"

"Shut up Nathan. There's no such thing as ghosts!" Phillip shouted back.

Kathy was behind Phillip shaking. He put his arm around her and looked her in the eyes.

"It's okay. There's nothing to fear. Let's go down and see what is causing all of this."

"That's a really bad idea Phillip!"

Phillip glared at Nathan.

"There's no ghost, but if you want to hang back here like a coward that's fine."

Phillip led them deeper into the cave, and closer to the Zubat. As they got closer Phillip could hear the dull roar of an engine of some sort. The Zubat swarmed about them. Their bites and tackles continued to weaken Phillip and Kathy. Phillip threw out Wooper and Pidgey.

"Pidgey! Strike the Zubat down with your quick attack! Wooper! Confuse them with Mud bomb!"

Kathy threw out Drowzee and Exeggcute.

"Drowzee! Pound attack! Exeggcute! Barrage attack!"

The four Pokemon worked their way through the first wave of Zubat. As the two of them got closer they caught a glimpse of Betty with some sort of motorized megaphone in her hand. She looked at the two of them winked with her left eye and ran deeper into the cave. Kathy and Phillip followed her into the depths of the cave.

More Zubat swarme Kathy and Phillip making it hard for them to see anything. Once they turned their attention to the second wave of Zubat they were pulled back by a spider web. Brett and his Spinarak captured Phillip and Kathy alongside a team of young men and women in lab coats. A blonde-haired girl that was a little older than Phillip said something to them.

"They got you too huh?"

On a ledge Brett and Betty were jumping around hand and hand enthusiastically.

"We did it! We did it! We caught Phillip! We caught Phillip! The boss will be so grateful to us!"

The two villains chanted their rhyme. Their celebration was interrupted by a burst of fire through the tunnel relighting all the torches. Nathan turned the corner. Betty held the megaphone mechanism up to her Zubat who sent out commands to the many other Zubat dwelling in the cave through sonar. They turned towards Nathan.

"Fire spin attack Cyndaquil!"

Cyndaquil's fiery circles grounded all the Zubat and burned the spider webs that were holding everyone.

"Quick Spinarak! Poison Sting attack!"

Spinarak fired a bunch of thorns towards the team. Cyndaquil fired another fire spin attack that burned all the thorns and torched Spinarak. As Brett and Betty rolled around on fire. Cyndaquil, Wooper, Pidgey, Exeggcute and Drowzee all fired attacks in unison. The attack was so powerful it blasted Brett and Betty through the pathways they blocked.

"TEAM ROCKET IS BLASTING OFF A-GAAAAAIIIIIIIINNNNNNN!"

The Zubat scattered and flew separate ways. The team of researchers that was stuck in the web ran to Nathan. They were slapping him on the back, shaking his hand and thanking him non-stop.

"We can't thank you and your Cyndaquil enough! If it had not been for you, we don't know what would have become of us. We will make sure our team leader rewards you when we bring him what we discovered."

Phillip approached Nathan and stuck his fist out. Nathan fist bumped him.

"Thanks Nathan. You did good."

A moment passed when a cry bounced off the walls of the cave. The team of researchers, Nathan and Kathy all huddled together in fear. Phillip looked into the direction where another ladder descended deeper into the cave. The cry echoed through the cave again. Everyone except Phillip screamed. Without thinking about it Phillip took off towards the ladder.

To be continued…