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Chapter 4 II
The group continued their venture to Violet City, and it was easily noticeable that Route 30 wasn't very populated. A bug catcher here and there, and a youngster or two were the only other trainers besides Patrick. Nevertheless, he went against his own request and stopped to battle. The only one that didn't get a chance to battle any was Ledyba, who only detached himself from his trainer to watch the matches. The trainer going against his own word surely costed him some time, as the sun was beginning to descend into the horizon, making way for another starry night. While the sun still remained on the horizon line, the view in the sky was breathtaking. An orange tint mixed with sky blue hung above the skyline. Flocks of bird Pokémon flew about, either traveling back to their nests or to a new one.
However, Patrick took no time to admire the sight given to him and the rest of the world by Arceus. His only reason was knowing that he couldn't afford to waste a single minute. The route could become difficult to navigate during the night which wasn't far away. They group continued walking.
Again, however, Patrick contradicted himself when he offered the group a short rest stop. He sat up against a tree where Hoothoot found a suitable branch to land on. Poliwhirl spoke to his trainer about wasting time. He understood perfectly what the Pokémon was saying.
"I believe I'm a walking contradiction, and I ain't got no right." He laughed as he recited the Green Day lyrics.
Poliwhirl sighed and shook his head before putting his attention on Cyndaquil and Ledyba. Neither of the two were in equal terms yet, so they still decided to stay away from one another. While the five star Pokémon was seriously focusing on staying away from his rival, the fire mouse Pokémon was putting no mind into it. His curiosity got to him again when he saw cocoon Pokémon hanging from a nearby tree. He was familiar with Metapod, but not this Pokémon. Some of these yellow cone shaped Pokémon were hanging from tree branches in a similar style to the Metapod from earlier, but a larger mass of this Pokémon were connected right to the tree. The front of their bodies fit perfectly against the tree, despite the fact that the could only see what was in front of them with their black, triangular eyes.
Patrick could still see Cyndaquil from where he was, but he couldn't see his current activity. A mistake on his part was trusting the fire Pokémon. He poked the Kakuna that was closest to the ground a couple of times before it fell. The cocoon Pokémon attempted to move, but it was on its back. All it could do was roll side to side in pain. It yelled its name out to all its fellow Kakuna. The rest of the bug Pokémon on the tree alarmingly said their names in unison. The backs on the ones connected to the tree split wide open. White, glowing entities emerged from the now empty shells. The Kakuna hanging from the tree via string shot went through the same process. Once the flashes of light cleared, airborne Pokémon made their presence known by exclaiming their names once again.
Cyndaquil backed up from the swarm as they shook off any fluid dripping from them from inside the shell. The fast flapping of their veined wings also made a sound that made the fire Pokémon uncomfortable, as if the appearance of the Beedrill in general wasn't disturbing enough. The Poison Bee Pokémon's bodies were connected by three segments. The head, which had two short, black antennae and two red eyes. The main body in the center is where its four legs were connected to. The two lower legs were longer than the top set of legs. They were thin, but had enough strength to support the bug types entire body. Its upper legs were connected to two sharp, long, and otherwise deadly stingers. The final section of the body was the abdomen. Two pitch black stripes raced around it. At the end was another stringer, just as sharp, if not sharper than the two main spikes. A notable difference was the fact that this third stinger was able to inflict the opponent with the poison status condition.
All at once, the swarm of Beedrill all turned to Cyndaquil. Patrick looked over to see the army attempting to impale his Pokémon. He panicked and jolted up.
"Guys, Cyndaquil is in trouble! We need to help!"
All his Pokémon sensed the concern in his voice. Instead of taking a ride on his torso again, Ledyba flew for a change. Poliwhirl also got a concerned look on his face when he saw Cyndaquil jumping and dodging attacks for his life. Without any command from Patrick, he began firing many Water Gun attacks. This only stopped the ones hit by the attack temporarily, angering them more in the process. While most of the swarm still focused their attention on Cyndaquil, a small group advanced for Patrick and his Pokémon. Ledyba was frightened by the sight of multiple threatening Pokémon rushing towards them, so he proceeded to hug Patrick's back in the same fashion he did before with his torso. He squeezed his eyes shut. Hoothoot jumped in front of the group to create a Reflect shield from the Beedrill. The Poison Bee Pokémon weren't smart enough to fly around the shield, so they proceeded to attack it. Poliwhirl knocked out some of the Beedrill by firing off a Hydro Pump. Hoothoot went into close range combat with them, pecking at them constantly. They managed to make it through that wave without a problem. Both Pokémon then advanced for the main swarm to join battle with and defend Cyndaquil.
Patrick thought on his feet. Instead of waiting for his Pokémon to defeat the swarm, he dived into it to grab Cyndaquil. He began running in the direction he was going, following by his Pokémon and the Beedrill army. While scooping up the fire mouse Pokémon, he noticed the immobile Kakuna on the ground. He paid no mind to it, knowing immediately why Cyndaquil was being attacked. He was shaking in his trainer's arms from the traumatic experience. He even resorted to curling up into a ball till he was convinced the threat was gone.
Patrick kept looking for a different direction to run to, but most areas were open to direct attack on the entire group. Most areas, at least. He sighed in relief when he saw a cave entrance. It didn't look like their was any source of light inside, but protection in any place was better than none at all. He directed Poliwhirl and Hoothoot towards the cavern.
"Hoothoot, I want you to use a full power Reflect to cover up the entire entrance!"
Hoothoot nodded. Patrick and Poliwhirl ran into the cave and kept going for a couple feet while the owl Pokémon stayed behind. Her eyes glowed more intensely than they usually do when creating a reflect attack. Still, she succeeded in covering the entire cave entrance with the strong, clear shield. The Beedrill didn't notice at all, crashing right into it. Each and every of the bug Pokémon fell. Most of them twitched once they hit the ground. Some got back up and attempted to get past the shield, but it held. The swarm gave up their pursuit once they noticed that they couldn't pass the reflect attack. As the shield disappeared, Hoothoot began panting. Keeping up such a large shield for even a short amount of time was tiring. Patrick offered to return her to her Poké Ball, which she kindly accepted.
Ledyba opened his eyes and landed on the ground. Poliwhirl and Patrick were panting from their run, but the trainer was more concerned with Cyndaquil. He stopped shaking, and uncurled from his defensive position. Patrick began petting him to put him in a state of comfort. Anything was better than being terrified. He was quickly back to his naïve and happy go lucky self. He didn't seem to mind being in almost complete darkness, as the remaining light outside was still providing him and the rest of his team with enough light for some navigation.
"Guys, I think we should lay low here for a couple minutes. Those Beedrill are probably still looking for us."
All his remaining Pokémon nodded. Instead of staying in the same area they were in, the Pokémon followed Patrick deeper into the cave. The light from outside disappeared, darkness surrounding them. Cyndaquil improvised, however. He spewed flames out his back, giving the group a decent amount of light. Patrick picked up his little genius and placed him on his head. Ledyba followed the routine of attaching to his trainer's torso. He didn't seem to mind at all now that the bug Pokémon was getting too attached.
***
After wandering about the cave for a little while and taking a short break or two, the group realized that they were lost. The species of Pokémon inhabiting the cave were Pokémon that preferred darkness. Among these species were Zubat, the blue colored bat Pokémon, pre evolution of the much larger Golbat and Crobat. The entire Zubat colony in the cave were sleeping while hanging upside down. Their wings wrapped around their bodies, possibly to kelp keep themselves warm in a cold cave.
Seeing as those Pokémon lacked vision, and relied on sonar to make their way around, they didn't mind the presence of Patrick or his Pokémon. Cyndaquil wasn't a problem either, even among Pokémon with sight. Pokémon with sight included Geodude and Graveler, the living rock Pokémon. Few Geodude were seen rolling around in the dirt and rock to strengthen their bodies. Aside from that, all the other rock Pokémon were fast asleep. The few that were awake though let the trainer pass through, albeit questioning his existence.
He looked around only to see cave, Pokémon, and more cave. However, Cyndaquil saw something out of his trainer's view. Around a larger rock, the fire type saw a petite yellow Pokémon running away once it saw the light. As usual, the young and curious Pokémon ran after it.
"Cyndaquil, get back here!" An annoyed Patrick yelled as and Poliwhirl began the chase. His voice echoed throughout the cave.
Cyndaquil's inquisitiveness was greater in power than the word of his trainer. When the fire mouse Pokémon turned the corner, he saw the smaller, yellow Pokémon cowering behind a rock. A small hole next to it showed it had attempted to use the drill on the end of its tail for an escape, but it had tried to dig into hard rock. It was attempting to hide its head so it didn't have to see what it thought was a predator coming to eat it. Most of this Pokémon's body was light yellow, including its tail and drill. Its had a small, peach colored patch on its back. Two light blue striped ran across it. To the side, it had two small, snow white wings. Its closed eyes were also peach colored, surrounded by the light blue color. Its jaw and underbelly were also light blue. Two small spikes were visible under its chin.
As the Pokémon cowered and shook, it repeated "Sparce... Sparce... Sparce..." in a scared tone of voice.
Patrick approached Cyndaquil and the spineless Pokémon.
"Cyndaquil, don't be running off like that!" He stated with a stern voice which saddened Cyndaquil.
His attention quickly became diverted from his Pokémon to the cowering Pokémon. He held his PokéDex in front of it so he could read its entry aloud.
"Dunsparce, the LandSnake Pokémon. It is very timid, and will burrow or run away if discovered to evade capture. Its wings give it little flight."
He held his hand out to the Dunsparce so he could pet it to re assure it that they weren't predators. However, this act of kindness didn't work. When the Pokémon saw his hand coming towards it, the serpentine Pokémon slithered away as fast as it could in the other direction instead of attempting to dig into the rock once more.
Patrick shrugged off the Pokémon's fear, "Can't win em' all." he said to himself.
Even though the trainer scolded Cyndaquil for running off without him, curiosity was getting to him, too. He put Cyndaquil back on top of his head to continue traversing through the cave.
***
After walking a not too great distance, Patrick saw something even he questioned. If a mature trainer like him was curious about something, a naïve child like Cyndaquil wasn't too far behind him. He jumped off his trainer's head to go investigate what they saw, but he was caught midair. He still thought he was running, even while in the trainers arms for a couple seconds. He stopped and sighed, knowing he wouldn't be allowed to let his wanting for knowledge to get the better of him. However, Patrick approached what had been getting them in question.
Three small nests made of rocks for infant Pokémon. The shelters were formed perfectly for the beginning days and growth of a baby Pokémon with an area right behind them for a protective mother to watch over them. However, two things were wrong with the situation. Only two of the rock nests had actual Pokémon in them, and the parent wasn't near.
The Pokémon inside the first two nests were no bigger than Patrick's hand. They were both light brown, except for the white claws at the end of their feet. Their heads perfectly rounded, and their skin was smooth to the touch. They also had two small ridges on their backs. The first Pokémon was fast asleep and lightly snoring, but the second Pokémon's small ears twitched as Patrick neared. The infant Pokémon were Cubone. By the looks of it, they were just new to the world. Something made them different from any other Cubone Patrick had seen in Kanto; they lacked the mask and bone their species were known for.
The second Cubone woke from its slumber. When it yawned, Patrick faintly heard its name. It opened its eyes and saw the trainer, but it wasn't in fear at all. In fact, it even waved its arms in the air and begged to be picked up. Patrick didn't waste a second in picking the Pokémon up. He was immediately taken in by its large, amber eyes. The light given off from Cyndaquil's flames gave its orbs a shine, making it appear even cuter. While picking it up, Patrick made sure its nest wasn't destroyed. As described, the infant Pokémon barely fit in his hand.
Meanwhile, not too far away from the Cubone nest...
The Cubone's mother was close enough to the nest to see that they weren't in danger, but failed to see that Patrick was there. The mother Marowak was pacing back and forth. She had berries in her hand for her Cubone littler, but the problem was the lost one. The third Cubone was missing from the nest, and she didn't know where her baby was. She would go look for it, but a search through a dark cave like that could take awhile, and leaving her children alone for a long period of time wasn't an option. She sighed with a heavy heart before heading back to her family.
By the time she got there, she wasn't pleased with the sight she saw. A completely unknown trainer playing with her baby was a predator trying to steal it in her eyes. She came into Poliwhirl's view as she ran for the group at a high speed. The tadpole Pokémon was alarmed by the sight of an angry mother, like any male on the planet would. He attempted to inform his trainer, but he was too busy playing with the Cubone to notice. She jumped into the air and landed in front of the trainer. Poliwhirl panicked as she placed the food down and grabbed the Marowak species signature weapon, a bone club that was as thick as steel. Patrick and Poliwhirl backed away in fear, but he made the mistake of still holding her child.
She spun the bone around before gripping onto it with all her might. She then leapt and landed in front of Patrick. She swung her weapon furiously over and over at the trainer. He was in a struggle. He had to make sure the baby Pokémon wasn't harmed during the onslaught, and he had to dodge her attacks. During its mothers attack, the baby Cubone that was sleeping remained in its peaceful state, while the awake one remained completely oblivious to what was going on. It still held its arm outwards for playtime.
"Damn it! First women have to be mysterious, now they can attack!?" He yelled, "Poliwhirl, handle this while I put the baby back!"
"Poli!" He regretfully sprung into action, knowing what a horrible mistake it was getting between a mother and her baby.
The Mother Marowak held her bone in the air and swung it towards Patrick, but Poliwhirl caught it and gripped onto it in midair. The strength the mother possessed was great. Poliwhirl was barely able to hold her back before letting go. He hopped backwards so he wouldn't get hit by the attack either. He rose his arms to defend himself from another oncoming attack, but he was too slow. The impact of the hit sent him flying into the rock wall. Patrick stupidly decided to watch the short battle instead of putting the baby back. He then rushed towards the Cubone nest. He tried to put the baby Cubone he was holding back into its part of the home, but the Marowak did not see what he was trying to to. She threw her bone club like a boomerang. The attack, Bonemerang, hit the back of his leg. He fell to the ground, but made sure the baby Cubone still wasn't in harms way. As he made another attempt to put the infant back in its safe place, but the mother made a great jump.
She caught her bone while her free hand began glowing white as it curled into a fist. She landed in front of Patrick and swung her fist into his knee. He almost dropped the child Pokémon, but he dealt with the pain. Poliwhirl attempted to run for his trainer, but he was too far away. Cyndaquil jumped in front of Patrick to defend him once Marowak held her club in the air. She swung her bone down, hitting the fire Pokémon right on the head. He dealt with the damage and stood his ground. Patrick was happy to see his Pokémon defending him, but was worried that he was getting damaged like he was. His concern was yet another distraction. She held her bone in the air once more for another attack, but the baby Cubone witnessed what was happening. He jumped out of Patrick's hand, but his landing wasn't the greatest. It hit the ground, but didn't cry. He waddled over to Cyndaquil, but he fell a couple of times along the way. Mother Marowak witnessed what was happening, so she ceased her attack, though she still held her bone in the air.
Cubone stood in front of a surprised Cyndaquil. It held its arms out, begging her to stop the attack. She looked into his amber eyes and calmed down. Once Poliwhirl got to the scene, the mother lowered her weapon. She threw her bone aside and picked her baby with a smile. She set the unmasked Cubone back into its place in the nest. Her other baby had awoken in time to see its mama. It was happy to see her, so it held its arms out. When she picked her baby up, the amber eyed baby jealously held its arms out, forcing her to pick it up too. Both Cubone hugged their mama and looked down at their food. She placed them both down in front of their food. Patrick watched the heartwarming scene of mother Marowak ripping a berry in half for her kids. The Pokémon were small, so it didn't take much to fill their stomachs. The trainer snapped out of his trance to ask the Marowak a question.
"Marowak, sorry for the misconception from earlier, but would you mind if I asked where your third child is?"
The mother sighed and looked down. She looked over to the Cubone who were nibbling on their food. She explained in Poké Language that her baby went missing the other day when it ran off on its own. She didn't see where it went, so she couldn't chase it. She simply pointed in the direction where she thought it went, the darker section of the cave. Cyndaquil didn't seemed to mind at all that he was hit on his head, as he offered to go into that part of the cave for a search. Patrick tried to tell him to stop, but he knew it was the right thing to do, albeit time consuming. He sighed as he and his Pokémon headed into the darker section of the cave.
"Why do I always have this sense of justice?" He grumbled.
***
The group had walked for a little while. Though they had light, they easily got lost. Especially since he was rushing. The sounds of water slowly swishing back and forth along with any of the movement of wild Pokémon was driving him crazy. He was ready to give up, but Cyndaquil was intrigued by a separate sound it was hearing, a faint cry. He jumped off Patrick's head and began running for the source, chased by Patrick. The trainer was all to tired of this routine by now. However, he was amazed that the young Pokémon's antics actually did the group good for once. They saw the missing unmasked Cubone. It was sitting on the ground, looking down while balling its eyes out. It didn't look up either when Patrick approached it.
"Hey there little guy, you lost?"
He softly said. The last thing a deeply saddened Cubone needed was to be frightened by a tough voice. It turned around when Patrick put his hand near it. Tears ran from its wide blue eyes. It wipes away some of its tears when its eyes set on the trainer. It was happy to see some form of life aside from roaming Pokémon. It cried tears of joy as it ran for him, not caring that it didn't know who this person was. He picked up the infant Cubone, happy that this short session of cave roaming wasn't going to last much longer. He rushed back to the Cubone nesting area.
As soon as they got back, the Marowak mother was overjoyed to see that her baby was unharmed. The infant Cubone didn't wait for Patrick to walk over to the area. It attempted to jump out of his hand, but such a small body landing on the hard ground probably wouldn't end well. He knelt down to let the Pokémon run to its mother. It waddled as fast as it could on its short legs, falling a couple of times on the way over. Patrick laughed at the humor was he walked behind it.
The Pokémon jumped into Marowak's arms once it got close enough. The heartwarming scene of a mother-child reunion was enough to make him and his Pokémon smile. Though he wasted some time, he was glad to help. The mother walked back to the nest with the third baby and placed it in its rock bed. She ripped a berry in half and gave it to the baby Pokémon. Being hungry was a constant combination when being lost and separated from a safe place. It didn't even bother to chew the berry. It begged for another, and its wish was granted. The mother Marowak sat down in front of the baby as it ate the second half of the berry and rubbed her nose against its nose, a common showing of love among Pokémon. It waved its arms up and down in its happiness. The other two waved their arms around, also wanting love from their mother. She showed love to her other baby Cubone, nuzzling with them both.
Patrick smiled at the adorable sight of a mother Marowak with her family, but then he realized how much time he had been using up.
"Excuse me Marowak, I have to go now, later!"
Patrick began to speed walk in the other direction. Before Cyndaquil's flame light was out of sight, Poliwhirl waved goodbye to the wild Pokémon family. The last sight he could see was the mother wrapping her tail around the baby Patrick found while the other two lowered their heads for sleep.
***
Once the trainer and his Pokémon exited the cave, the only visible light was emitting from the stars and the bright moon. Patrick looked over in the direction where the Beedrill nest was, and it was empty. He was wondering what had happened with the Kakuna that had been knocked off from the tee. He thought it would be a better idea not to go over there and look. Luckily, he knew which direction he was going in, so he wouldn't end up wandering back to the Beedrill nest. All that was between him and Violet City now was a straight path.
'Alright, if we rush, I think we can make it there in ten minutes, without stops..' He thought.
He barely walked twenty feet before Ledyba fell off his back. He worriedly turned around, thinking something was wrong. His thoughts of fear proved to be wrong, however. The bug Pokémon had simply just fallen asleep and couldn't stay gripped onto Patrick anymore. He smiled and returned the five star Pokémon back to his Poké Ball. He looked up at Cyndaquil, whose flames were long gone by now. He was struggling to stay awake. Instead of returning the fire Pokémon to its Poké Ball, he held the tired creature in his arms. The mouse Pokémon rested his head on Patrick's arm as he watched the boring sights this section of the route had to offer.
Soon, though, something intrigued him. He rose his head when he heard a group of Metapod say their names loudly in unison. Patrick looked over, too. He made sure the tired Pokémon didn't run off as usual when something made him curious.
The sight they were witnessing was a Metapod evolution. They evolved in the same mannerism the Kakuna evolved in. Their backs split open, and the Pokémon inside the shells emerged surrounded by a bright light. However, these Pokémon weren't as threatening by appearance. Instead of the menacing three segmented-triple driller features of a Beedrill, the Butterfree's body wasn't separated at all. Its head connected to the red of its dark purple colored body. Each of the Butterfly Pokémon had two thin antennae atop their head. Anyone could easily get lost in their adorable red eyes. Another cute feature was its small mouth, consisting of just a pale blue oval shaped nose and two small teeth. Its upper legs could hardly be called limbs, as they were so close to its body. Its lower legs were larger in size, and were covered in pale blue hairs.
Seeing all the Butterfree fly in a circle with their large, white, and beautiful wings. Little droplets of light fell from their wings into the trees below them. They were smaller than raindrops, but would someday become something great. They were the Butterfree's eggs that the Pokémon lay in the area their metamorphosis took place in before migration. The eggs would become Caterpie larva, who would evolve into Metapod, and into Butterfree once again to start the process over again. Patrick smiled at the thought of how simple a bug Pokémon's life must be. Cyndaquil was simply amazed by the sight, keeping him awake for the moment. Once the flock of Butterfree left, the trainer and his Pokémon left as well.
