Hey readers- here we are with the next chapter : )
I had originally hoped that this chapter would be the last part of 'Clefairy and the Moon Stone', because I'm eager to move on to the next episode. But when I started writing it up, the chapter ended up going on for so long that it just wasn't feasible to keep it as one big chapter, so I had to divide it into two. Never mind, we've almost got another episode done, which is always good : )
But enough about that. Let's instead talk about the winner of the latest voting topic. I honestly couldn't be any more thrilled to say that the winner of the last voting topic was... Vulpix! Yep, the adorable little Fire Type Pokemon won by a landslide majority. I'm SUPER pleased about this one, because I absolutely love this Pokemon line in both its forms, so to be able to add one to Nolan's team in the story is just incredible : D
Beyond that, I just want to say an MASSIVE thank you to everyone that has reviewed, favourited, and followed this story. The support that has been shown to the story is amazing, and it means so much to me, so thank you : )
Please remember that Pokemon is not mine, only my OC's are : )
I hope you enjoy this chapter : )
Clefairy and the Moon Stone - Part 5
It quickly transpired that the mysterious invitation had actually come from Clefairy, and that Meadow had simply been the Pokemon who had been elected by the others to relay the message to the small group of humans. Nevertheless, Nolan and his friends all gladly accepted the offer, but if they had known exactly what it would entail first, they might not have been so gracious.
A mystery tour.
Nolan and the others we're all being led on a magical mystery tour of Mount Moon. A mystery tour being conducted by a Pokemon of all things. Now call him cynical, but the golden haired boy wasn't so sure that taking directions from someone who didn't even speak the same language as them was the greatest idea they had collectively ever had. That wasn't to say that he felt Pokémon was stupid, of course Nolan knew better than that. He knew that they had a great level of intelligence, more so than some people he knew in fact. He just couldn't help but have a few misgivings was all, but Nolan was careful to keep such opinions to himself. He didn't want to spoil the atmosphere of the evening stroll after all, and despite his trepidation, he could admit that the scenery was very beautiful if nothing else. Now that the sky had turned an inky black as midnight drew closer, the stars were all out in force, as was the full moon, shining brightly upon them all. But when it came down to matters of night-time beauty, the most captivating feature of the picturesque scene had to be awarded to Mount Moon itself.
Nolan honestly wasn't sure if it was because of the composition of unearthly rock that made up the famous Kanto landmass, or simply a reflection of the moonlight, but the glow he had noticed around the mountain earlier in the day had now been magnified tenfold. Dazzling silver light danced up the edge of every single cliff face, all the way up to the summit itself. It was... magical. There really was no other way to describe it. The mountain... was magical.
Magical, but treacherous.
Nolan was not ignorant to the fact that the slope beneath their feet was slowly and subtly increasing in steepness after all. Their gentle evening stroll had quickly transformed into a full-on mountain hike, but they were passing even that stage now. Pretty soon this would be a full on expedition, the golden haired boy thought sarcastically to himself. Thankfully he wasn't the only member of the group that seemed to have noticed however, and it wasn't long before his raven haired best friend couldn't refrain from asking the most obvious question.
"Pikachu, where on earth are you and the all others taking us?" he asked his partner in a slightly exasperated tone. It was obvious that he liked being in the dark as much as Nolan did, which was to say, not very much at all.
"Chu, Pika" Pikachu briefly glance backwards over his shoulder at his trainer, before he continued scurrying along the mountainous track with ease, "Pikachu!"
Ash allowed a small sigh of frustration to slip past his lips. He honestly hadn't caught any meaning behind Pikachu's words at all.
"Come on Meadow! Xanthite!" Nolan called out to his own two Pokemon, growing more and more weary of the constant mystery the further their marched into the night, "Don't either of you have any hints for us?"
The little Grass Type Pokemon paused and looked up at her beloved human with a twinkle of excitement in her ruby red eyes. Levitating through the air through the use of her magnetism, Nolan's newest Pokemon did much the same. Nolan couldn't help but smile at them both. Whatever it was that Clefairy had invited them all to come see, they sure were very excited about it.
"Bulba! Bulbasaur!" Meadow said with a mischievous lilt in her tone.
"Dude! Geo! Geodude!" Xanthite just gave the boy a wide, slightly secretive smile.
Nolan scoffed and shook his head in fond exasperation. He got the message, loud and clear. From their expressions alone, the meaning of their words could not have been more obvious. He wouldn't be getting any spoilers from them.
Knowing that he probably wouldn't get anyway even if he tried to pry the desired information out of them, Nolan decided to just let the matter drop. It ultimately didn't matter anyway, since all of the humans' questions were about to be answered, and their curiosity would finally be satisfied.
"Fairy! Clefairy!" a gentle voice chimed.
Everyone looked up from their own conversations upon hearing the call. At the head of the party, Clefairy had naturally been the one leading the way, since she knew the mountain better than anyone else. It was a good thing she did, because they had strayed quite far from the beaten path by this point. Now however, the petite pink Pokemon had suddenly come to a halt. Once satisfied that she had the attention of her fellow Pokemon and the humans she had decided to entrust this secret too, Clefairy then bounced over to a large cluster of overgrown bushes. With a tiny pink paw, she delicately brushed aside some of the leaves, and to the utter astonishment of everyone else present, she revealed a large opening in the rock face of the cliff.
Nolan was fully aware that his mouth was hanging open in a rather undignified manner, but he honestly just couldn't help it. Without their very special guide to show them the way, the golden haired boy was confident that he could have searched this mountain for a hundred years and would never have found this place. He also doubted that any other humans had ever done it before either. Unsurprisingly, the blonde boy was not the only member of the group to be completely stunned by Clefairy's revelation.
"It's another cave!" Ash exclaimed, his tone and expression both caked with sheer disbelief.
Hearing the surprised words from his best friend was enough to pull Nolan out of his own stunned reverie. Still wide-eyed with amazement, the golden haired boy at least managed to find his voice again.
"I wonder if anybody else knows about this place" he mused aloud, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he did so, "We've come quite a long way away from the main route that trainers take through Mount Moon after all. It's quite possible that we're actually the first people to ever see this".
"You might be right about that Nolan" Seymour spoke up from his position at the rear of the group, "I doubt that we would have ever found this place without Clefairy bringing us here, so it's unlikely that anyone else has ever stumbled across it either".
"I wonder what it leads too..." Brock muttered, staring uneasily at the opening. It was so dark, completely devoid of any kind of light whatsoever. It made the tunnel seem... kinda spooky.
"Well, there's only one way we're gonna find out" Misty clapped her hands together bracingly, before she glanced down towards Clefairy with a kind smile, "Would you like to keep showing us the way Clefairy?"
"Fairy" the small pink creature bobbed her entire body in what the humans could only construe as an affirmation.
With that decided, the group wasted no more time by loitering outside. All four of the Pokemon went ahead into the dark tunnel, and after some initial difficulty, the humans managed to squeeze themselves through the narrow opening in order to follow them. Nolan was the last member of the group to emerge into the hidden cave, and it was with a grimace on his face that he did so. He didn't exactly relish the idea of being underground yet again after all, nor being in such a confined space whilst down there either. Still, he followed without complaint, but it took a couple of moments for his eyes to adjust to the suddenly much more intense darkness. When they eventually did, the golden haired boy found his surroundings to be exactly as expected. They were in a damp, dark cave, with a low hanging rock ceiling, and a narrow way forward. It was only as group started to carefully make their way down the tunnel after Clefairy, did Nolan come to realise that their initial supposition had just being proved.
"Looks like Team Rocket didn't find this spot" the blonde boy remarked as he squeezed his way along the tunnel, pressing himself against the cave wall.
"How'd you figure that?" Ash grunted from up ahead of him.
"No lanterns to guide the way this time" was the simple response Nolan gave.
The group continued on in this fashion, pressing their bodies up against the edges of the narrow stone corridor, as they scooted on their way. Nobody spoke much as they went. They were all too busy focusing on where they were stepping, but after almost twenty minutes of careful concentration, the tunnel finally widened out, much to the relief of everyone. They didn't have much time to rest on their laurels however, because what they saw next had all of them gasping in pure and unadulterated awe.
"Whoa!" Nolan exclaimed breathlessly, his icy blue eyes wide in amazement, "That is... that is so beautiful!"
The tunnel had branched out into a gigantic cavern, one which probably could have comfortably fit a cathedral inside, it was so massive. Various cracks in the thick heavy stones that made up the outer walls allowed some of the moonlight overhead to filter into the cave, illuminating the entire area and enabling them to see clearly. And what they saw had completely taken their breath away. Cradled on a circular platform of solid stone, carved out by the paws of possibly many generations of wild Pokemon, rested a colossal boulder. It was obsidian in colour, and it has a strange effect in which it seemed to... absorb the light around it. In turn, it then projected that light across the surface of itself, so that it glistened and shimmered with an ethereal silver glow. When Nolan glanced over at Clefairy, hoping for some kind of explanation from the Pokemon that had brought them all here, he saw that her eyes had a look of adoring worship in them.
It didn't take long for the pieces to fall into place after that.
"This... this is it, isn't it?" the golden haired boy breathed in awe, his voice nothing more than a hoarse whisper, he was so enchanted by the mythical artefact before them, "The original meteorite that fall to Earth".
"It's the core of the Moon Stone!" Seymour nodded in confirmation. The man sounded close to tears, he was so thoroughly overwhelmed with emotion. He'd dreamed of finding the Moon Stone for years, and now here it was before him. It was a lot for him to take in.
"It's so gorgeous" Misty marvelled, looked at the ancient relic with enthralled eyes as the lights flickered and danced across the smooth black surface like miniature stars, "It's like something straight out of a dream!"
Nolan and Ash could only nod dumbly in agreement with her statement.
"So the Moon Stone legend is true" Brock whispered in awe, scarcely able to believe the evidence right in front of his own eyes.
The small group of humans, as well as the Pokemon which had guided them to this most sacred spot, all just stared at the Moon Stone for a few moments longer. It was a struggle for any of them to really take in its majesty and ethereal qualities in their entirety. One thing was for certain though. They would never come across something quite like this ever again. Not even if they spent their entire lives searching through every hidden crevice of the world. It was... unique.
It was... beautiful.
"Look!" Ash was the first member of their group to notice that something was about to happen, and the sound of his voice was enough to snap everyone else out of their stunned reverie, "Clefairy's doing something!"
Nolan and the others all saw that he was right.
"Clefairy" the small pink Pokemon whispered reverently.
Then she slowly approached the magnificent black stone. Once she was but a few inches away from it, Clefairy stopped, and knelt before it in a regal gesture of worship, a look of utter devotion on her face. Then, after a couple of maintaining that position, she straightened up again and finished closing the distance between herself and the ancient artefact. With the utmost care, Clefairy then placed the tiny shard of Moon Stone that she'd been carrying all this time into a gap in a ring of similar shards, which had all been put into position around the impressive meteorite.
Nolan and all the others watched in awe as, in a fashion almost like a circuit being completed, all of the tiny fragments of Moon Stones reacted to the ring being finished, and they simultaneously began to glow with an ethereal silver light. A soft gasp of amazement escaped from the golden haired boy as he watched the display, completely enthralled by its natural beauty.
The moment with suddenly broken by the sounds of tiny footsteps approaching, so soft and gentle that the noise was reminiscent of a light airy breeze. Glancing around the suddenly illuminated cavern, Nolan saw to his immense surprise more and more Clefairy suddenly coming out of the shadows that hung around the edges of the stone chamber. Soon enough, there were dozens of them, and each and every one of them had their gaze trained solely on the Moon Stone, a look of utter love and devotion in each of their expressions. The boy's icy blue eyes widened out of pure and unadulterated astonishment. Never in a million years would he have expected to see so many of the elusive rare Pokemon in one place. This truly was a once in a lifetime experience, and it was a memory that Nolan would cherish for the rest of his life.
"Clefairy. Clefairy. Clefairy" they were all chanting. Their voices were in such perfect harmony with each other, it was almost like a song. It was... magical to behold.
"There are so many of them!" Misty gasped, thoroughly awestruck.
One of the slightly larger Clefairy toddled forwards until it was a the head of the group, a bright smile on its face as it looked up at the group of humans that were visiting this sacred spot.
"Clefairy. Fairy. Fairy. Clefairy" it greeted them, before bowing to each of them in turn.
"Heh, I think its saying hello" Ash remarked, his lips quirking up into a smile.
"Yeah!" Brock chuckled in agreement.
Evidently that was the only greeting that the head of the Clefairy clan felt that the situation warranted, for a moment later, the Clefairy that had spoken turned back to its people. A single wave of its tiny pink law was at it took to get the dozens of other Clefairy moving.
"Oh look at them! Misty exclaimed in delight and wonder.
It didn't take Nolan long to realise exactly what had enthralled his female friend so thoroughly. Each and every one of the Clefairy had manoeuvred themselves saw that there were standing in a perfect ring around the gigantic, glittering Moon Stone, all spaced apart equally. Then, as one, they all moved in almost-perfect synchrony, twirling through the air in a way that was eerily reminiscent of a ballerina. The golden haired boy's blue eyes widened in awe, and a joyous smile crept on to his face, as he watched the Clefairy clan perform their worship ritual, for that was clearly what this was.
"Clefairy. Clefairy. Clefairy" the small pink Pokemon were all singing in harmony, "Clefairy. Clefairy. Clefairy".
Bathed under the silver moonlight, the scene was utterly beautiful. Nolan couldn't help but feel totally at peace as he watched the Clefairy dance, and despite his earlier trepidation about entering an underground cave, the boy was glad that he had come here. The sight of this performance alone had made the entire journey worth it.
"Amazing. These Clefairy have formed their own society" Seymour marvelled at the golden haired boy's side, bringing him back down to earth, "This is an incredible sight!"
Nolan was about to open his mouth in order to respond, but before he had the chance to, Meadow, Xanthite, Pikachu and the Clefairy that they had befriended all began talking amongst themselves again.
"Clefairy, fairy" their pink host explained something to her fellow Pokemon.
"Geo" Xanthite nodded in agreement.
"Pika. Pikachu" Pikachu gasped in a slightly awed tone of voice.
"Bulba" Meadow marvelled as well.
"Hey, Pikachu!" Ash called out, having noticed their conversation at the same time that his best friend had, "What's Clefairy been telling you and all the others anyway, huh?"
"Yeah Meadow" Nolan added, his tone and expression both very curious, "What's up?"
The Pokemon finished their little chat, and eventually broke apart. It was Pikachu that stepped forwards to answer the humans' inquiries. They all clustered around to hear what he had to say.
"Pika, Pikapi, Pika, Pika!" whatever it was that the little yellow Pokemon was saying, he sure was very excited about it.
"Saur, Saur, Bulba. Bulbasaur" Meadow backed him up, her ruby-red eyes glistening with excitement.
"You two can understand that?" Seymour couldn't help but ask the two partners of the respective Pokemon, his tone somewhat sceptical.
Nolan moved to reply, to explain that it was never an exact translation, but sadly he was cut over once again. Ash, puffing out his chest in a slightly arrogant manner, looked up at Seymour with a cocky look on his face.
"Of course I do" the raven haired boy boasted, prompting Nolan to roll his eyes, "Pikachu is my Pokémon!"
They all looked back down at Pikachu, who was waving his tiny yellow paws around, obviously trying to use charades as a means of explaining his words to his human partner.
"The Clefairy collect all of these rocks and..." Ash briefly trailed off, and Pikachu made a couple more gestures.
"Pika, pika" the Electric Type Pokemon squeaked. Ash snapped his fingers, as though the answer had suddenly just struck him.
"...do the Macarena!" the raven haired boy exclaimed triumphantly.
Nolan honestly couldn't help himself. In incredulous disbelief, the golden haired boy slapped a hand to his forehead out of sheer exasperation with an audible whack. He wasn't the only one who had such an extreme reaction either. Pikachu gaped up at his human partner for a split-second, before he literally fell flat on his face anime-style. They just couldn't help it though. The idea was just so... ridiculous.
"Pika, pika" the little yellow Pokemon scowled once he had picked himself up, making a gesture in the shape of a cross with his arms.
"Gonna take a wild stab in the dark here..." Nolan intoned, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm, "But I'm gonna guess that a group of wild Clefairy probably are not doing the Macarena in the middle of a dark, secluded cave".
Ash looked at him with a dumbstruck expression.
"Oh yeah... I can see the flaw in that logic" the raven haired boy blushed, now feeling a little embarrassed.
Nolan rolled his eyes fondly at his best friend, before turning his attention to his own partner. The little Grass Type Pokemon was looking up at him patiently.
"Meadow, you try and explain" he requested, kneeling down to her level. Meadow was only too happy to.
"Saur, Bulba, Bulbasaur, Bulba" the small green Pokemon explained, and like Pikachu had before her, she used charades to help make her beloved human understand, though she used her vines to do so.
It took a few moments for Nolan to puzzle it out, before he eventually felt like he had grasped the meaning of her words. He smiled and petted his partner's head.
"I'd already guessed that that might be the case" he told her softly.
"Bulba" Meadow nodded back at him.
"What might be the case?" Ash asked curiously from behind him, not liking how he felt slightly left out of the loop, "What have you already guessed Nolan?"
Nolan stood up back to his full height and just dusted himself down. He then turned around and smiled at his friends, all of whom were looking at him expectantly.
"The Clefairy pray to the Moon Stone" the golden haired boy announced with certainty, and everyone else's eyes all widened in shock, "They worship it. I don't think that they're just dancing around the Moon Stone. I think it's part of some kind of ritual that's sacred to them".
"Bulbasaur!" Meadow cheered, signalling that Nolan had got it all right.
"Clefairy" Clefairy nodded in agreement, watching the others of her kind as they continued bouncing and twirling around the Moon Stone with a soft smile on her face.
"Is it because the Moon Stone fell from the heavens?" Seymour asked aloud, though judging by how soft his voice was, it was a rhetorical question.
"Then maybe the legends are true" Misty theorised, her tone and facial expression both full of wonder and awe, "Maybe the Moon Stone really did come from space!"
"Yeah" Ash murmured, though he still sounded a little sceptical.
Seymour on the other hand could not be further away from that mindset or sentiment. His eyes practically shining behind his glasses, the young scientist took a step forward and spread out his arms towards the Moon Stone, looking as if all the puzzle pieces of his life had suddenly just slotted into place.
"Of course!" Seymour burst out, and he sounded on the verge of tears, he was so emotional, "It all makes sense now!"
"What does?" Ash eyed him oddly. Like Nolan, the raven haired boy was quickly coming to the conclusion that albeit harmless and eccentric, Seymour might also be just a little bit mad.
"Outer space!" the young scientist exclaimed excitedly, before reverting to talking in rhyme again, "Pokemon and the human race, will ride the Moon Stone into space! First to the moon! Then to Mars! Then together to the stars!"
Nolan couldn't help but gape at the man incredulously, but there was also a hint of pity in his expression. It was quite sad that the man was so wrapped up in his own dream that it was beginning to seemingly break his grip on reality. The golden haired boy was about to try and point out the logical flaws in the theory of operating a boulder like a rocket into space, but for what felt like the millionth time that day, he was cut over before he had a chance to say anything, and this time it was not by the voice of a friend.
"Stars?" a painstakingly familiar voice chimed in, and Nolan sighed and closed his eyes in utter despair at the sound of it, "That's our cue!"
Grimacing, Nolan turned around and had his fears confirmed. Around him, all of his friends and their Pokemon did much the same. The golden haired boy had initially hoped that he might have been mistaken, but no. He wasn't. Standing in the mouth of the tunnel leading into this magnificent stone chamber, was none other than Team Rocket. All three of them had smug smirks on their faces as they sneered at Nolan and his friends. Meowth had been the one to call out, and he had his claws raised threateningly. It was obvious that this time, the criminal gang meant business.
"You guys don't know when to quit" Ash sighed in annoyance.
"Are you losers really that desperate to get your butts kicked again?" Nolan drawled from his side, his tone heavy with condescending sarcasm.
Meowth's cold sneer in particular became even more pronounced at the boy's mocking.
"Surprised to see ya here, Goldilocks" the Scratch Cat Pokemon remarked casually, his eyes glinting vindictively, "I thought ya might have got buried in a cave-in after ya fight with dat Geodude".
Nolan inwardly recoiled at the mental image that Meowth's taunting had given him, but he refused to allow any trace of discomfort to appear on his face.
"Yeah... sorry to disappoint, but I think you'll find that me and 'Dat Geodude' are now good pals" the golden haired boy retorted smugly, "And I think she wouldn't mind having a word with you, after you deliberately manipulated her. Isn't that right, Xanthite?"
"Dude!" the Rock Type Pokemon growled, her eyes narrowed angrily upon Meowth, who noticed her presence for the first time. He did not seem very intimidated this time around.
"Pfft, that pebble might have got da drop on Meowth before, but Meowth's ready dis time! Meowth!" the furry white Pokemon snarled.
"Geo!" Xanthite cracked her knuckles threateningly in response. Meowth flinched slightly, remembering her impressive strength from their earlier meeting, but stood his ground.
He wasn't the only one to do so.
Seymour, in a bout of sudden bravery that Nolan wouldn't have guessed he was capable of, suddenly pushed his way to the front of the group, and stood with his arms out protectively in front of the children and their Pokemon. His eyes flashed dangerous from behind his glasses, as he glared at Team Rocket with loathing.
"You keep away from the Moon Stone or else!" he yelled angrily. Around him, Meadow, Pikachu and Xanthite all moved forwards, ready to back him up if needed. Clefairy and all the rest of her kind all just stayed where they were, too scared to try and fight.
"Or else?" James repeated, his face contorting into a dark mockery of a smile.
"I think we've been threatened" Jessie sneered, though she seemed far too amused, so it was clear that she wasn't taking Seymour seriously. The young scientist didn't let that put him off.
"The Moon Stone belongs to the Clefairy, not to you troublemakers!" Seymour snapped, angered by the way that Team Rocket's smirked all just widened in response, "Leave this cave at once!"
Nolan might have been impressed by the man's display of will, but sadly the overall effect was ruined by something. And that something was the fact that Seymour was practically vibrating, he was trembling so badly from head to toe with fear. It could not have been more obvious that confrontation was not the scientist's strong point, and unfortunately Team Rocket picked upon that detail as well.
"What's that unusual sound?" James asked aloud, his tone highly mocking in nature.
"His knees are shaking!" Jessie laughed cruelly, finding amusement in poor Seymour's embarrassment.
"Hmm, sounds like a wimp!" Meowth cackled gleefully.
Those words seemed to be the very last straw as far as Seymour was concerned. Perhaps he had simply heard them one too many times, or perhaps it was simply the adrenaline pumping through his veins in that moment. Either way, the eccentric man suddenly began charging towards the gang of criminals, his fist raised and ready to strike.
"I'll show you" the bespectacled man screamed out the words like a battle cry.
"Don't, Seymour!" Ash tried to warn him, but sadly it was too late.
As the raven haired boy's words fell on deaf ears, Seymour let out a long, loud wail that echoed off the cave walls as he sprinted across the stone chamber. For one brief moment, Nolan thought that the scientist might actually succeed. It did look like he was about to bowl them all over after all. Sadly however, Seymour being the hero of the moment just wasn't meant to be. Right at the last minute, Meowth used another one of his dirty tricks. He deliberately stuck out his tail so that it was right in Seymour's path. The poor man was going so fast that there was no way he could bring himself to a stop in time, which left him with a rather inevitable fate.
CRASH!
Nolan couldn't help but wince as the sound of flesh colliding hard against solid stone echoed around the cavern. He wasn't the only one either. Everyone but Team Rocket watched in horror as their new friend was sent sprawling to the floor. His glasses had fallen from his face in the fall, blinding him almost instantly. Battered and bruised, the young scientist let out a feeble moan as he pushed himself to his knees.
"Huh? Did you have a nice trip?" was all the Scratch Cat Pokemon had to say in the aftermath of his wicked, wicked trick.
"My glasses" Seymour gasped out, his tone and expression both filled with panic, as he immediately began feeling around on the ground for his missing spectacles, "I can't see a thing without them!"
Team Rocket just laughed at the poor man in their usual nasty manner, but Nolan wasn't overly concerned about them for the moment. Instead, the golden haired boy and his friends all hurried over to where the scientist had fallen down, each of them with concern etched into their faces. Upon visual inspection, Seymour appeared to be unharmed, but Nolan was still worried.
"Oh, Seymour" a horrified Misty gasped.
"Are you okay?" Nolan asked sympathetically, "You're not hurt, are you?"
"I... I'm alright" the man grunted, though it was pretty obvious that he was in a considerable amount of pain.
Angered by what he had just witnessed, Ash looked away from Seymour, and instead allowed his russet coloured eyes to harden into a dark glare as he regarded Team Rocket. The three criminals just sneered down their noses at him.
"That wasn't fair!" the raven haired boy spat at them.
"All is fair in a Pokemon match, boy!" Jessie retorted, casually shrugging her shoulders at the accusation that he had just made.
"Enough talk!" James decided that it was time to get down to business, and so he took a menacing step forwards, a pokeball already clasped in his gloved hand.
"I agree!" Ash angrily yelled back in response, before turning to his trusty partner Pokemon, "Let's go, Pikachu!"
"Pika!" the little Electric Type Pokemon cried, immediately scurrying forwards in front of his human protectively.
"Go get them Meadow! Xanthite!" Nolan echoed his best friend, and both his loyal partner and the newest addition to his gradually growing team hurried to back Pikachu up.
"Saur!"
"Geodude!"
"Onix, let's go!" Brock chimed in as well, tossing a pokeball high into the air, and in a flash of bright scarlet light, the gigantic stone behemoth materialised in the cavern.
"OOONNNIIIXXX!" the huge Rock Type Pokemon let out a long, bellowing roar that echoed loudly off of the cave walls.
"Misty calls... Starmie!" Misty backed them all up too, mirroring the others and tossing a pokeball through the air as well.
"Star..." the purple bejewelled Water Type appeared in the line next to all of the other Pokemon. Nolan couldn't help but realise but this was the first time that he had ever heard the voice of Misty's partner Pokemon. It was a very strange sound, sort of like a multitude of voices all speaking at once. It was weird, but he quickly dismissed the thought. It was hardly important as a time like this after all.
Across from those ready to defend the Moon Stone with every last ounce of their strength, the two Pokemon that were to be their enemies in this match were released from their pokeballs as well. Both Ekans and Koffing materialised with smug nasty leers already plastered all over their faces. It was clearly meant to intimidate them, but Meadow, Xanthite and all the others refused to back down.
"Let's show them that size and numbers don't matter!" Jessie smirked, arrogant in her confidence, "Ekans, go underground!"
"Koffing, use Smokescreen!" James echoed her with, gesturing dramatically with the realistic but fake rose he liked to carry with him.
"Ekans!" Ekans hissed as he immediately began burrowing his way through the earth. It wasn't as easy or as quick as his Dig manoeuvres normally were due to the stone texture of the ground beneath them, but the violet coloured serpentine creature still managed to quickly disappear from sight.
"Koffing!" Koffing boomed as he floated through the air towards his enemies. Thick plumes of inky black smoke began leaking out of the small holes that littered his spherical body, and almost immediately, Nolan, his friends, their own Pokemon, and all of the wild Clefairy were enveloped in a dark cloud of putrid dense fog.
The golden haired boy instantly gagged, and quickly started coughing as the gross smelly smoke started to replace the air in his lungs. The others were already in much the same condition. Thinking quickly, Nolan reached down towards one of the pokeballs attached to his belt. At his side, Ash mirrored the action, having arrived at the same idea.
"Smoke won't stop us!" Ash managed to choke out, tossing a pokeball high into the air, "Pidgeotto, I choose you!"
"Help us out Welkin!" Nolan gasped out through a mouthful of disgusting smoke.
In a flash of dazzlingly bright light, which illuminated the entire cavern with an eerie crimson glow, the two pokeballs same open, and two Flying Type Pokemon of the same evolutionary family materialised in the air, beating their wings to keep them airborne.
"Pidgeotto!" Pidgeotto's eyes widened as she took in the scene before her.
"Gey! Pidgey!" Welkin exclaimed angrily upon noticing the presence of Team Rocket.
"Pidgeotto, use your Whirlwind to get rid of the smoke!" the raven haired Pokemon trainer commanded, though his voice was slightly muffled since he had to cover his nose and mouth with his hand to avoid throwing up.
"Help out with your Gust Attack Welkin!" Nolan added, his eyes streaming due to the grotesque smoke cloud.
Welkin and Pidgeotto both began quickly beating their wings together in almost perfect tandem with each other. Soon enough, the two Flying Type Pokemon had managed to summon up a vast tornado of swirling air, one which was powerful enough to blow away every last trace of the putrid black smoke from the cavern. Once the last remnant of the fog had disappeared and he could see again, Nolan was about to issue more commands to his Pokemon, but sadly, things never made it that far.
Instead, the golden haired boy's blood turn to ice in his veins at what he saw, or should that be, what he didn't see.
Clearly having used the cover of the Smokescreen, Team Rocket had, rather bizarre in Nolan's opinion, pulled a vanishing act. Now normally Nolan wouldn't have considered that any great loss, but there was something else that had also disappeared during those few moments when nobody could see anything. Something of great value, and the thought of it being in the hands of those criminals made the golden haired boy feel sick to his stomach.
The Moon Stone... was gone.
The whole boulder, in all its vast size and unmatched beauty, had simply gone. Even all the tiny fragments that the Clefairy had collected had been taken. All that was left in their place with a huge, gaping hole in the ground. Nolan could barely do anything but look on in horror, whilst all around him his friends realised what had just happened as well.
"Huh?" Ash blinked in confusion at the absence of Team Rocket, before noticing the huge crater in the cave floor where the precious meteorite had stood just moments before, "The Moon Stone is gone!"
"Team Rocket stole it!" Misty gasped, her vermillion coloured eyes wide with horror.
"The match was just a trick so they could sneak away with it!" Ash spat, shaking his head in contempt and disgust. How dare Team Rocket just barge in here and take something so precious and sacred to the Clefairy, all of whom were utterly terrified by the events that had just taken place? How dare they?
Fortunately Brock, who despite being just as angry as the rest of them, was thankfully able to keep a clear head, and quickly sprung into action.
"All right, Onix!" the former gym leader immediately turned to the huge stone behemoth that was his trusty partner, "Follow them underground!"
"OOONNNIIIXXX!" Onix roared loudly, before he uncoiled his body, and with surprising grace and manoeuvrability for such a massive creature, effortlessly slithered down the hole that Team Rocket had left in the wake of their robbery.
"Xanthite!" Nolan called out to his own Rock Type Pokemon, who was immediately ready to do whatever she could to help in this awful situation, "I want you to go with Onix! Please provide him with some backup until the rest of us catch up to you!"
"Geo!" Xanthite bobbed her entire body in an affirmative manner, her expression serious to show that she understood. Nolan's newest teammate then quickly rolled over to the opening of the tunnel that Team Rocket had left behind, and using her abilities of levitation, quickly floated down into it and vanished from sight.
"We should get going too!" Ash urged his friends, and Nolan, Misty and Brock all nodded in agreement at the suggestion, "If we hurry there's still a chance we can catch them!"
The four of them quickly set off running back out of the cave, so that they could return to the outer surface of the mountain. It would be easier to give chase to those no-good rotten thieves out there after all. Nolan and his friends was so preoccupied with catching up to Team Rocket that they totally forgot about poor Seymour, who was still scrambling around on the ground looking for his glasses. Only one thought was whirling around in Nolan's mind in that moment...
And that was that they had to recover the Moon Stone.
They just had too.
And that marks the end of another chapter : )
Like I said in the head-note, we're closing in quick on the end of this episode now. In some ways it's actually a shame, because this episode is one of my favourites in the Indigo series, but at the same time I'm keen to move on. Plus, we have some very exciting and iconic episodes coming up soon, so it's all good : D
Now, before we move on to today's voting topic I just want to take a moment to give you guys a little update on what my team's looking like in the Orange Islands Nuzlocke. As you guys may remember, it was decided that my starter in this game would be Meadow the Venusaur from my original Fire Red Nuzlocke, and we have since added Tentacool and Vulpix to the team as well. What you guys don't know yet though, is that I actually have another team member as well. Yep, I picked up the one and only gift Pokemon in this game - or at least the only gift Pokemon to my knowledge at any rate - in the form of a Porygon. But yeah, those four are Nolan's Orange Islands Team so far.
And that brings us to today's voting topic nicely, because this time, you guys are going to be adding a fifth member to that roster : ) This one is going to be a little bit different to how I normally get Pokemon though, because it isn't going to be a new Pokemon this time, but rather an old one. Yep, I have defeated the first rival battle in this game. Gary wasn't actually in the anime series set in the Orange Islands, but the creators added him to the game. In the first rival battle, he used a Blastoise, an Arcanine, a Nidoking, a Nidoqueen, an Eevee, and a Golem. Nothing too crazy, and with Meadow, he was easy enough to defeat. But defeating a rival now means that I get to bring an old team member into the new Nuzlocke. Now, since there are three rival fights in this game, I decided to break up which Pokemon you guys can vote to bring back from the original Nuzlocke into three categories, based on where they are in their evolutionary chain. Since this is the first rival battle I've won, you guys get to vote between Pokemon which were only in their original base forms when the first Nuzlocke ended. So the options this time are Meowth, Poliwag, Voltorb, and Scyther. I'm counting those that don't evolve at all as fully evolved Pokemon XD Now remember, whoever you guys vote for will no longer be safe from being written out of the story if I lose them in a battle in the Nuzlocke. On the plus side however, whoever gets picked will be eligible for you guys to vote to evolve them in the future, so it balances out : D
And I think that's just about everything from me for this week. Thank you so much for reading this chapter and my story in general, and I hope you're enjoying it so far. Please also consider leaving a review because I'd love to hear your comments and feedback : )
Until the next time, keep on reading : )