Featured: Ch. 35 - The Unnecessarily Surreal City - Pokémon Choice Quest 2

Chapter 23: A Dark Downstairs

Location: Volmia City Ruins → Caterpie Terminal

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Following the directions given by the talking Chansey, you decide that the easiest shortcut is just to take a free ride to the east. You return a few blocks from where you are and arrive at a big Caterpie monument. The way it stands, you feel a sense of familiarity with another statue you may have seen before. There wasn't any inscription found on the structure, but the image is clear to you; this is unmistakably the Caterpie Terminal itself.

You can only hear the resounding steps of your own, strolling the empty lobby with lights staying unfazed across the ceilings. It's apparent that no one is around, or at least that's what you thought when you hear a faint chuckle somewhere. In attempt of discerning the source, you turn right to see a one-way staircase that descends deeper to the underground level, completely pitch-black that it's nigh impossible to see through the veil of darkness just with naked eyes.

"This path is off-limits, enter at your own peril." it reads on the authoritative sign panel placed on the thick partition of the stairs. That seems weird coming from a public service facility, if they know it's dangerous, why the path wasn't sealed? This might or might not be the path you're looking for to proceed, though maybe it's only your instinctive sense, you can feel the danger lingering inside. Yet the curiosity goes in you; what this place is trying to hide from you?

The Casteliacone is bright enough for you to see, however. Where to go?

1. Turn your back and keep going to find the train you're looking for. Let's not stray too far into the unknown and find the exit quickly.
2. Fearlessly brace yourself for what is hidden inside the end of the staircase. You have Cuddles to cover for you, after all.
3. Stick to the path you came from and proceed to follow the light. Screw this darkness.

Chapter 24: Inside the Terminal

Location: Caterpie Terminal → Unknown Depths

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Nothing seems to be more scarier than becoming paranoid of something you might be missing out. Therefore, you send out your Wailmer, Cuddles, to stay on guard as you try opening the bag to reach for the Casteliacone. It's weird to think that this glowing ice cream could actually function some utility, but pushing the thought aside, you watch yourself from tripping by descending the stairs, one tap of a step at a time.

Not long after, you find yourself standing on a flat surface, wide enough to signal Cuddles to slide through the stairs. It wasn't really a smooth one to bump continuously, but such thing doesn't really affect Cuddles from backing down his curiosity now. Turning your back, in front of you is an open entrance where the air could be felt inside. To find out, you take the lead to enter the new area within.

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Upon making your way inside, you hoist the Casteliacone to lit up your surroundings. The walls look rough and dense. Moss-covered support columns broadens the site. Metallic rails similar to a train railway stands still on the tiled flooring. It appears to be another part of the terminal that is evidently old in age, but knowingly prohibited by those who operate the place. It's what you are about to find out, after all, so turning back won't be a choice here.

The path ahead is the same, until its complex nature starts to fork into three different directions; to the left, to the right, and center. Cuddles wriggles onward and faces to the left, thinking that you should be taking that path. Yet, the similar chuckling echoes from the right, reverberating to a gradual stop. It might be more appropriate to track down the source of the voice, but what of the other two?

Ultimately, you are to decide where to go. Which path do you choose?

1. Follow Cuddles' lead to the left.
2. I don't think so, Cuddles. The right path had to be the right one.
3. Let's ignore the two paths and keep walking to the center.