Hey everyone! I'm back with a new chapter…after almost 12 years, we're so close to the finale of the story, enjoy!

Chapter seventy-two: Verdigris Station

The Onix stared down at us…agitated and enraged by our intrusion. It blocked our path to leave the cave, so fighting ultimately is inevitable.

Our group moved out of the way as its huge, rocky, exterior slammed into the spot we were just in. Before he could do anything, Orion felt something squeeze him...entangle him. It was the Onix: its snake-like hide was now pressing against the hapless mouse Pokémon. The small Pikachu squealed in pain just as Jennifer and I stepped in. The trainer called in her Gabite…commanding them to use Iron Tail.

"Lucas, hurry!" Rigel shouted as I nodded. I ran in to release Orion from the Onix's grasp. Fortunately, Gabite's attack stunned the massive foe, whose grip on the yellow mouse loosened.

I jumped in, grabbing the other Pikachu…soon jumping away…using Quick-Attack to sprint to safety with him.

Jennifer's attack on the large beast only made it madder and it soon unleashed a deafly roar toward us! We covered our ears and became overwhelmed by the shockwaves. We, as in the Pokémon, suddenly felt weaker…as if our defenses were lowered from their move!

The behemoth soon unleashed a barrage of rocks in our direction. Orion, Gabite, and I are soon harried by countless stones. It's enough that Orion and I are significantly injured from them…

Orion, clutching his stomach, looks toward me with a frustrated frown, "I already hate this thing…"

"As you should…we're weak against it!" I retorted, wincing in pain.

Jen turned toward the fourteen-year-old, thinking to herself, call them out…they'll be annihilated if they stay, Rigel. You should know by this point they're not the best equipped to fight this kind of Pokémon!

"Orion, use body slam!" Rigel instructed.

Well…better than nothing.

"Gab, use Dragon Claw!"

I jumped to stand by Rigel's side as the three of us watched the events unfold. Rigel looked to Jennifer with the same level of confusion he had when Iron Tail was used. Jen smirked at the boy and said, "there's many other types out there, kid." It's funny because in some way: Jennifer was frontrunning many trainers and wild Pokémon in Kanto. She might as well enjoy it because it won't be long until Steel, Dark, and others are introduced to this region.

Anyway, Orion and Gabite both attacked the wild Onix. "careful, remember Orion is weakened by them" Jen advised before the adolescent nodded, "gotcha."

Orion and Gabite soon outflanked it. The 1.2-foot-tall Pikachu dodged its massive tail and soon used the side of his small body against the Onix! It seemed to do some damage, but the Rock/Ground type roared in response and slammed its massive body against Orion. He is sent flying toward us and soon faints. Rigel winced at that and soon called his companion back into his ball. Gabite was not finished yet, they jumped on the rock snake's head: the tip of their wings was as sharp as a knife. They began to glow bright white…as bright as a car's headlights. The purplish Pokémon roared as it unleashed its fury on its wild adversary! Once striking, Gabite returns to safety.

By this point, the Onix had sustained significant injuries and was on the verge of fainting; however, it wasn't going to go down that easily. It started charging for us, catching us all off guard! Our team is forced to jump out of the way.

"Hit it again, use Bite!" Jen yelled as she dodged.

"Lucas, Quick-Attack!" Rigel added.

Gabite jumped on Onix's tail and launched toward their neck: latching themselves onto them. They sank their razor-sharp teeth into the snake-like foe…causing them to flinch. I jumped in and used my tail to smack their face. Gabite and I soon jumped away to safety.

It soon gave yet another roar toward us. We all expected this fight to continue, but it simply collapsed afterward…causing the ground to shake and dust to fill the air. The Onix had fainted. The battle was over.

We all heaved a sigh of relief…except Rigel, who realized he could have caught the Pokémon at that moment. The teen decided to let it go, reviving Orion while Jen walked up and hugged her Gabite…with the latter smiling.

"Good work everyone!" Rigel said.

"You're getting better at battling, Rigel" I said in human speak.

Soon the other Pikachu writes in the dirt: great work, Rigel!

Rigel soon rubbed the top of his Pokémon's head, "you too, buddy!" He smiled at Orion. Soon, the latter jumped toward his trainer and they both hugged. Jennifer joined my side as we watched.

"I still can't believe you managed to teach a Pokémon how to write…" Jen muttered. I ran up her back and rested against her shoulder…leaning toward her with a smug grin, "I guess you can say the pen IS mightier than the sword, huh?"

"Until you run out of ink or paper, genius." She playfully retorted.

I chuckled, pointing toward the letters in the dirt, "then you think of other ideas like Orion…think outside the box!"

"Touche."

Soon, the trainers gave us all potions before Jennifer called back her Gabite…taking the initiative, "come on…let's go before something else gets in our way." The adult female said. We followed, relief came over us once we saw the exit lights grow brighter and brighter. The trainers soon turned off their flashlights. Orion and I were excited to finally leave this dreadful place behind, and so were the others.

Once we went through an arch and out of the caves, however, we could see that, to our surprise and shock…we were still underground: where the military train had stopped. Domed lights hang over our heads and there are scaffolds and forklifts…blue tarps…basically it's a construction site! More than that, I soon realized where we are. This place is very familiar to me.

When I was very young and my family came to Verdigris to visit, we took the train to get there. Well, turns out…this is the very station we ended up in when we got to the resort town. I soon realized that this…this was Verdigris Station. The station was adjacent to the Space Needle and the visitor center…oh boy, so we really DID make it here!

Worse than that, we all soon see that this dimly lit place is crawling with Ex-Grunts…Anthony Preston's men. We all immediately took cover behind a wall and simply panicked.

Jennifer peered her head slowly to see that above the scaffolding (where there should be stairs to the exit) there is a catwalk that leads to the exit.

We didn't know it yet, but our group was right underneath an outpost that formerly belonged to Team Rocket but is now controlled by Preston! Also unknown to us was the police taskforce led by Hide Yoshida and Dean Kilde (along with Ansel and Leila) which was on its way to Verdigris to intercept Preston.

For Jennifer, Rigel, Orion and I…we had just ended up in what was known to the Ex-Grunts as: Outpost 6N 873.