[PKMN FULL] Mirrors: A Kanto Story [M][IC]

Chapter One - The Beginning
The group explore their home city of Pewter for the last time before meeting in person for the first time and heading off on their journeys.

Chapter Two - First Steps
The group set off on the first leg of the journey together, taking the chance to interact and get to know each other a little. It isn't long though before the first signs of trouble ahead appear.​

Pewter City is a place like no other in Kanto. It lacks the fame and prestige of the beautiful Cerulean or enormous Saffron and Celadon, but with almost all its buildings hewn from stone it presents a unique visage.

Pewter is a hardy city, isolated from its closest neighbours by the dense Viridian Forest on one end and the treacherous Mount Moon on the other. A sizeable portion of Pewter City?s population are working class families with at least one member who works either researching or mining/excavating in and around Mt. Moon.

Despite its rugged nature, in more recent years Pewter City has taken a turn towards academia with the region?s most prestigious trainer school and attached university being located in the city as well as the famed Pewter City Museum and its famed Geology and Paleontology departments. These days Pewter City?s entertainment district is a weird combination of skeevy pubs and hipster cafes.

Notable Locations
Pewter Gym
Pewter Gym makes use of a vast, rocky battlefield reminiscent of the rugged mountainous terrain to the north and east of the city. It is lead by Brock, who makes use of Rock types. He battles more experienced trainers in three on three battles, but for beginners each side makes use of a single Pokemon.

Pewter City Museum
Pewter Museum is the northernmost building in the city as well as the one at the highest point of elevation. An extremely old building that was hand carved over decades by stone artisans, even after its completion it predates most of the other buildings in the modernised city. It is particularly famous for its geology and paleontology departments.

Trainer School and Pewter University
Neighbouring complexes, Pewter City Trainer?s School and Pewter City University are prestigious institutes with a focus on Pokemon-related fields. State-owned, they were originally very small but in more recent years have grown exponentially and moved to larger more modern campuses next to each other.

Available Wild Pokemon

Maria Cosgrove

Pewter City

Chapter 1-1 | Anticipation

Current Party:

It was a bright and beautiful day in Pewter City. The Pidgey were chirping happily, their feathers full and ruffled from the abundant sunshine. A steady, gentle breeze blew through the air, causing the leaves to slowly rustle in the air. The laughter of children filled the air, the signs of an intense game of hide and seek being played throughout the city streets. All in all, one could say that Pewter City was displaying a most picturesque scene, one that would be seen on the covers of those old-timey magazine covers. It was heartwarming, calming and peaceful. Yet despite the serene imagery of the humble burg, not everyone who found themselves in the city were at peace.

"...Maybe I should just back out of this," a tall, blonde girl mused quietly as she slowly made her way down the cobblestone streets of Pewter. Her heart was racing with anticipation as she made her way towards the Pok?mon Center of the town, an impromptu meeting place that had been arranged via a series of messages shot back and forth between herself and three others on their Pok?gears. "I... I mean... We've never actually met in a physical sense... W-What if they think I'm weird or s-something and decide to just... leave me behind...?"

Maria Cosgrove heard a small and curious gurgle, snapping the girl from her thoughts. The Sinnohian glanced down, taking note of the Turtwig who was currently trotting by her side. He seemed to be quite interested as to what had been causing his trainer so much concern. While he really couldn't grasp all the finer details of just what Maria was saying, Sprout could definitely notice that something was bothering the girl. Maria smiled weakly at her Pok?mon, kneeling down just long enough to scoop the grass-type up into her arms before resuming her walk.

"I'm sorry, Sprout... I g-guess I'm just a bit nervous," Maria explained, gently hugging the Turtwig to her chest as she resumed her walk towards the Pok?mon Center. "I mean... We've talked through messages on our phones, but... I've never met them in real life before. Also... we're supposed to be going on a journey together... and I've hardly even been a trainer for about a week. It's just a lot to take in."

Maria's fears were honestly justified... at least, in her mind. Her trainer's card had only been issued to her about two weeks ago, and that was only because she managed to barely pass the required test. While her parents were absolutely thrilled with the occasion, going as far as to gift her with an actual Pok?mon in response to it all. Maria wasn't too sure about how she felt about it, truth be told. The girl didn't have an aversion to Pok?mon or anything of the sort. In fact, the blonde had always a bit of a soft spot for the creatures. Rather, it was more because of the fact that Maria didn't actually know what she wanted to do on a Pok?mon journey.

Battling against the gym leaders for a chance to take on the Indigo League seemed a bit... overzealous for the girl. The fear of failing at her first gym battle was more than enough to scare her way from taking on such a challenge. The other option was taking on the task of trying to "catch 'em all". Of course, with their being over 700 Pok?mon in the world... well, Maria wasn't sure if she had it in her to use so much time to follow a most likely impossible task. There was also the fact that maybe some of those Pok?mon wouldn't want to be captured in the first place. Maria simply didn't have the heart to keep a Pok?mon against their will. As for taking on the contests and attempting to earn Ribbons...? Well, the chances of getting Maria on stage in front of so many people would be virtually impossible. There would sooner be a flying Tepig as opposed to that notion.

Unfortunately, or perhaps... fortunately, Maria did not have much longer to fret over the situation. The familiar sight of the orange-tiled roof of the Pok?mon Center soon came into sight, signaling her arrival at the designated meeting place. The very sight of the building caused Maria to slow her walk even further, down to the point that she essentially froze in her tracks. The moment she walked through those doors, the tall girl realized that there would not be any going back. At least, not without making some sort of awkward scene. As if looking for some sort of advice, Maria glanced down at the Turtwig in her arms. Sprout was staring up at his trainer, an eager look on his face as if demanding that she finally head inside.

"W-Well... If you're sure..." Maria whispered, taking a deep breath before making her way to and inside the Pok?mon Center.

?What am I doing?? Lauren sighed. She was standing in front of an imposing stone building bearing an octagonal crest in darker grey marble. This was the Pewter City Gym, she?d been past it several times and even been inside for a couple of events. This was different though, this time she was approaching as a challenger. This was what she had to do.

??Skull!? Mortimer chimed in from where he floated next to her, the Duskull attempting to offer encouragement. She?d had her partner a few months now and they?d grown inseparable. He?d come to know when she was struggling with something. Lauren took a deep breath.

?I?m alright, Mort,? she said, sighing again. For a long time now, the expectation had been that she would take on the league. Her marks at the trainer school hadn?t been the best, but they were up there and it was common knowledge that she intended to leave on her own journey. People just put two and two together from that information and assumed she was setting out to challenge gyms and after a while she?d grown to accept that as fact. It wasn?t like she?d had any other plans. Besides, she was pretty good, this made sense. No matter how much sense it made though, she couldn?t deny that every fibre of her being was screaming at her to run the opposite direction.

I haven?t even left on my journey yet technically she thought to herself what right do I have to be here?

Apprehensive or not though, Lauren walked through the automated doors and into the lobby. Minutes later she was being lead by the receptionist into the main arena. She didn?t have to worry about waiting, she?d made an appointment instead of walking in. She was afraid she?d back down if she tried the more traditional method.

?You?re Lauren then?? the gym leader, Brock, asked from where he waited on the other side of the battlefield. Lauren nodded. She couldn?t help but notice that the two of them were almost total opposites. He was tall with messy hair, dark skin and rough features and exuded confidence. Lauren had seen what she looked like in the mirror every morning. She was small, light-skinned with her hair neatly styled and while others tended not to notice, she always felt she looked mousy and anxious. ?No time like the present then. Onix, let?s go!?

Lauren was snapped to attention, shaken from her mental comparisons. He was already rushing her into the battle. With a flash of light, the enormous stone serpent appeared with a low bellow of a battle cry. She was going into battle with a tiny Ghost type. She mentally berated herself for even considering this excapade. There was no turning back now though.

?Mortimer, you?re up.? she said to her companion, her Duskull nodding silently as he floated onto the battlefield. The rocky arena was devoid of anyone bar they and the referee, the amphitheatre style pews around the edges of the arena empty. The space was wide open, but somehow it was still suffocating. Before Lauren knew it, the referee signalled the beginning of the battle.
?Rock Tomb!? the gym leader instructed, his Pokemon obeying without even a microsecond of pause. Several boulders materialised in the air above the battlefield and fell towards Mortimer. Lauren wasn?t about to let her cloudy head get Mortimer crushed by a bunch of rocks, she mentally pushed herself to focus on the battle.

?Shadow Sneak.? Lauren instructed. Mortimer sunk into the ground, seemingly merging into his shadow and shot forward far faster than he would normally move. As the rocks from the Onix?s attack hit the ground, Mortimer was already launching out from the shadow like some sort of hellbent spector and striking the side of stone leviathan. The attack barely seemed to scratch the enormous creature.

?You?ll have to hit us harder than that.? Brock called ?Iron Tail!? Mortimer was too slow to escape the Onix?s reach and was struck by a silvery glowing tail. The Duskull flew across the arena, coming to a stop not far from where he?d started. Silent but determined, he righted himself. Lauren knew he could sustain many more strikes.

What am I doing? she found herself thinking again. She didn?t get to follow the thought much further though, another command from its trainer and the Onix was breathing a pinkish torrent of flaming breath in a sweeping arc across the field. Onix wasn?t much of a special attacker, Lauren knew. She still knew she shouldn?t just let the attack hit. She could see what Brock was doing though.

She commanded Mortimer to dodge, the slow Pokemon just narrowly throwing itself forward out the way of the Dragon Breath. There was no reprieve though as a second Rock Tomb attack came, boulders dropping from the air again.

?Shadow Sneak? Lauren said again. Brock was forcing her up close again and there was no way she could prevent that from happening. So she let him. Mortimer leapt from the shadows again, once more striking the Onix to minimal effect. This time she followed through ?Will-o-wisp, Mortimer.?

The Duskull formed a blue-purple fireball and lobbed it at the Onix at close range. There was no way it was missing, striking the giant Rock type and spreading across its body, inflicting it with a burn.

?Brutal Swing!? Brock ordered, his Onix lashing out it?s tail a savage whip. Mortimer shot across the arena again, taking a lot of damage from the super-effective hit. However, the Onix?s Attack had taken a drop from the burn it suffered. Lauren exhaled.

?I was trying to do this quickly, in honesty.? she said ?That was silly of me. I have to do this properly.? Her opponent raised an eyebrow, Mortimer wasn?t really looking up to sponging hits. He wasn?t going to have to though. ?Haze, Mortimer.?? Lauren said quietly. Soon the battlefield was engulfed in a dark cloud.

?So that?s what you?re up to. Rock Tomb, keep going until you hit it.? Rocks fell through the haze, but there was no sign of any hitting. Furthermore, for every moment that the Onix was missing attacks, its burn was whittling away at its health. On and on it went, but none of the boulders struck Mortimer. He was hovering just barely inside the arena, directly in front of Lauren herself. No Rock Tombs were going to be hitting that particular area.

The minutes dragged on painfully slowly as the haze gradually cleared, eventually revealing an exhausted looking Onix panting heavily. Mortimer on the other hand was looking marginally better thanks to the long rest he?d had.

?Of course that?s where you were hiding.? Brock said with a chuckle. Lauren managed a small smile at that, she?d made the right move.

?It was the only place I knew you wouldn?t attack. You couldn?t risk hitting me. Sorry if it was a bit underhanded.? Brock shook his head as Lauren gave her instruction ?Mortimer, Night Shade.? A large spectre of shadow bearing the same shape as the Duskull rose up from the Pokemon and surged forward, engulfing the Onix. The Rock type crashed to the ground and didn?t get back up. Brock congratulated his Pokemon and returned it, crossing the field to Lauren.

?This is yours then, the Boulder Badge. Congratulations. That was a very strategically fought battle.? Lauren thanked him for the praise and accepted the badge.

?That?s one checked off the list.? she said ?Time to head to the Pokemon Centre, Mort.?

??Skull!? She?d heal up Mort and then finally she could meet the people she?d been talking to online. This is what she?d been looking forward to all day.​

​

​

Lauren stood up from the armchair she'd been resting in and headed up to the counter upon hearing her name called. The nurse that had done so greeting her with her perpetually pleasant smile. Lauren wondered if her mouth had been surgically set in that position.

"Your Duskull is in fighting condition. No complications at all." she said, her inhumanly friendly disposition never once once faltering. It honestly was starting to unnerve Lauren a little. She thanked the nurse and took possession of Mortimer's pokeball once more, glad to head back to the chair facing the door. She released Mortimer from his ball, letting the little Ghost nestle into her lap as they awaited their soon-to-be travelling companions. She couldn't help but be a little excited to see what they were like in person.

As if it had been on que, the doors of the Pokémon Center opened up to allow another visitor inside. It was a blonde girl, one who seemed to tower over several of the other occupants of the Pokémon Center, accompanied by what appeared to be a somewhat eager and curious looking Turtwig. The small grass Pokémon looked all around as he trotted along side of his trainer, as if he was busy looking for something in particular.

"N-Now Sprout, you n-need to calm down a bit…" the tall girl said quietly, as she quite suddenly became aware of just how crowded the Pokémon Center was. When the girl had agreed with her online friends to meet up here, she was sure that the place wouldn't have so many people mingling about inside. It was a fact that she was quickly proved wrong on, and now she suddenly found herself wishing she could go back and recast her vote. "I h-had no idea this place was going to be so busy…"

"Well, she did say she would be the tall one with the Turtwig. Seems like an apt enough description." Lauren said to Mortimer. She stood up again, causing Mortimer to float up to her shoulder height and follow behind her as she made her way towards the new arrival. "Maria? Is that you?"

Maria jumped slightly at the call of her name. The tall blonde slowly turned around before her eyes met those of Lauren's, albeit only for a moment. At the very least, it was long enough for Maria to spot the Duskull floating behind the shorter girl who approached her.

"O-Oh… Y-Yes, hello… You must be Lauren, right?" Maria managed to stammer out. She had no idea why this was so difficult for her. She must have talked to this girl via messages on her Pokégear at least three times a day. Now here she was in person, and all the while Maria's heart was racing as if she was standing in the path of a rampaging herd of Tauros. "It's… It's nice to finally m-meet you like this… I m-mean… to see you in person, that is…"

The bell atop the Pokemon Center door jingled, signaling the arrival of yet another trainer, one with an Emolga perched on her shoulder. It didn't take Tabitha long to see a rather tall blonde girl, who just had to be Maria. The hyper youth bounces on her toes as she rushes over, quickly taking note that she is already with another girl-- a girl with a Duskull swaying behind her, which makes her Lauren (there is no chance any other girl in the city has a Duskull). "Maria! Lauren!" Certain beyond certain these are the ones, she offers an excitable wave.

"Tabby? Hello!" Lauren said happily, genuinely pleased to see the girl and her Emolga "You too of course Ziggy, hello." This was a moment that Lauren had been waiting for for months now. Now they just had to wait for one more. She found herself smiling as Mortimer floated down to where Sprout was, her partner getting to know his new companions as well. "Any ideas when Riku will get here?"

"I'm not too sure…" Maria replied quietly, feeling slightly relieved that a bit more focus was being put onto greeting Tabitha as opposed to herself now. She paused, glancing down at her Turtwig who greeted both Ziggy and Mortimer with a big, rather goofy grin. "D-Did he maybe send you a message saying that he was running a b-bit late…?"

Is it too early to give hugs? Maybe-- probably, Maria looks like she might melt into a puddle if they get much closer to her. Guess she's a little shy in person, which makes sense, you can't just shout 'g2g!' and disconnect from people when they're hugging you. She'll have to bring Maria out of her shell a little! But...with baby steps...this is gonna be hard.

"He'll get here! If not, I'll track him down myself." Tabby grins as she closes the gap between herself and Lauren, whom Ziggy greets with an excited squeak. His tail twitches with uncontainable joy as he spreads his little wings and leaps from his partner's shoulders to greet the floating ghost, and the turtle with the silly smile.

Back outside, a little ways down the road of the Pokemon Center, walked a frazzled Riku. The young man shuffled through the backpack his mother haphazardly pushed onto him. He wasn't even able to double check to make sure he had everything.

"Jeez..." Riku let out an audible sigh of relief as he pulled out a small pokeball. He was not prepared to go back and deal with all that mess again to retrieve Bao, the Munchlax that hatched from an egg his late father had given him

"Let's go big boy, we late as hell already!" Riku shouted as he released the incredibly bubbly Munchlax. Bao landed on the cement road with a thud before bounding ahead of Riku towards the building. "AYO WAIT!" Bao had a bad habit of running around like a crazed mad man on a sugar rush with no real purpose other than to cause a scene, despite the attempts by his trainer to calm him down.

"MUNCH...LAX!" The Munchlax burst through the doors of the Pokemon Center, startling some of the nearby patrons. Bao's small beady eyes scanned the crowd from their knees down, searching for something familiar to rush towards. He knew why they were there, and he knew this meant he could finally meet other Pokemon. His pointed ears twitched at the sound of small and familiar squeak before his eyes darted towards the source: a small Emolga floating down slowly to greet a Turtwig and Duskull.

Riku stepped through the doors, the gentle jingle of the bell above him signaling his entrance. Bao was within Riku's reach, but even if he tried he couldn't stop the Munchlax's almost 250 lb body from making a beeline through the crowd.

"Aight...well shit." Riku sighed, slouching just a bit in defeat. He couldn't really control Bao all too well just yet since the egg hatched just a few weeks ago. The trainer made his way through a startled crowd, apologizing when he could. He finally caught up to Bao, who had already started chatting up a storm with the small Pokemon accompanying three familiar girls.

"Wassup!" Riku barked out with a large smile.

Now that, THAT is a greeting! "Riku!" Tabitha points a finger excitedly at their newest arrival, before all but tackling the male trainer as she lunges forward and hugs him. It's not until after her arms are wrapped around her online buddy that she remembers she told herself not to do that yet...but! He sounded so excited, and she's so excited! And this, this is just a really good day! No, this is going to be the best day!

Ziggy makes a contented giggling sound as he gestures to his trainer with his tiny hand, as if to say 'I told you so.' Honestly he was surprised she didn't greet the two girls by rushing into the center and throwing her arms around both of them. Now all is right with the world.

Despite the fact that Maria was still a bundle of nerves over meeting all three of her online friends at this point, the tall girl managed to muster up a small smile over the sight of how happy Tabitha seemed to be over meeting Riku. All three of the girl's friends seemed to in fact reflect how she had perceived them to be over her interactions with them online. They were friendly, much more so than her fears had initially placed in her head. It was quite a relief.

Taking a moment to try and gather what nerve she could, Maria took a deep breath before slowly glancing back upward at her three friends. "S-So… I guess this means w-we're all present and accounted for, r-right…?"

"Seems to be the case." Lauren answered, suppressing a chuckle at Tabitha and Riku "I've already finished with my appointment from before, so unless any of you guys have anything you need to do, we could probably head off soon."

"Maaaaan I'm ready to leave this place in the rear view asap," Riku chuckled as he ran a hand through his thick hair, "Nothin but problems around here…" he muttered under his breath.

"Then let's kick it into high gear!" Tabby practically cheers as she releases Riku, twirling on her toes to face the rest of the group. While she never felt like Pewter City was a problematic place...that was part of the problem: It's dull, and it's time to leave it in the dust and aim for adventures. "Right, Ziggy?" The hyperactive blonde extends her arm, so the flying squirrel can glide onto it.​

Kanto's Route Three is long and thin, a steep grassy route that flows up along a narrow valley, surrounded on both sides by steep rocky walls extending down from the Lunar Range, home of Mount Moon. The route is quite sparse, having few trees and little other vegetation either besides the grass. The higher up the altitude gets, the less green is visible. All along the route, craters caused by meteor showers from the past dot the area.

At the conclusion of the root, the grass has disappeared as the valley widens out into a small sandy plateau dotted by boulders. A lone Pokemon Centre stands here, frequented by those travelling between Pewter and Cerulean as well as miners and researchers. Beyond that, stands the intimidating Mount Moon. It's out of the way, so the establishment is a bit shadier than other Pokemon Centres. It's not uncommon to find rowdy miners or roving con men like the infamous Magikarp Salesman. For trainers travelling from Pewter, this route is a subtle reminder that life isn't always easy on the road.

Available Wild Pokemon

The sun was shining brightly in the sky as the group of friends set out from Pewter City and made their way across Route 3. Maria had decided to keep mostly to herself as the four teenagers traveled. While part of that still revolved around the fact that the tall girl was still a bit nervous about speaking up, a good deal of it had to do with the rather exuberant energy that was being displayed by both Riku and Tabitha. The two seemed to have a great deal to discuss and their excitement about embarking across Kanto seemed to be nearly limitless. Rather than interrupt their enthusiasm, Maria decided to spend her time watching the clouds floating in the sky as she walked.

"That one… I think that one looks like a Magikarp…" Maria determined as she studied one in particular. In reality, the girl knew that she was probably giving herself a bit too much credit in regards to her cloud-watching skills… but at the same time, it did make for an interesting way to pass the time. The girl heard a familiar gurgle, glancing down to see her Turtwig nuzzling comfortably in her arms. A small smile stretched across her lips at the sight, as Maria gently began to pat the grass Pokémon's head. "I wonder if I can find one that looks like Sprout…"

A little ways beyond this route is Mount Moon-- Mount-Freakin'-Moon! What a great place to explore, it's shrouded in so much mystery! Okay, calm down, Tabs, don't forget to enjoy this part of the journey too.

It's only after thinking that thought did Tabitha realize she was jogging, and thus left her companions a few yards behind. With the biggest of smiles, she pivots on her toes and begins to jog back. "Sorry--! I do that." She plays it off with a laugh, while Ziggy, now riding on her shoulder, nods in agreement. That won't be the last time Tabby does that-- it probably won't even be the last time she does that today.

With a small bounce, the hyperactive blonde falls back in line with Riku and Lauren, taking note that Maria's falling a bit behind, and reminding herself that she probably likes it that way, and that she shouldn't run up and grab her by the arm and tug her towards the others-- even if she really, really wants to. Let shy-friend warm up at her own speed, they have plenty of time.

Unlike Tabitha, Lauren had no reason to pull back from interacting too much since she hadn't particularly loud or inolved either. She wasn't much ahead of Maria really, so she allowed herself to hang back and fall into step with her as she chuckled at Tabitha's realisation she'd run off again.

"Looking at anything in particular?" she asked the quietest of her new companions.

Maria jumped at the sudden question, her face quickly turning a dark shade of red from the embarrassment of being surprised so quickly. With a weak smile, the taller of the two girls slowly shook her head before answering.

"I… I was j-just looking at the clouds," Maria explained, pointing upwards as she did so. "I um… I kind of like looking at them and trying to see if they look like anything familiar… I was trying to f-find one that looked like Sprout, actually…"

"Well, I don't know about Sprout," Lauren responded "but that one looks like Riku." She indicated a rounder cloud formation that… didn't really with a few wavy tendrils at the top. All in all, it wasn't really that similar. Lauren was hoping at the very least though it'd elicit a chuckle and help Maria settle into the group a bit more.

"I heard that!" Riku called back over his shoulder to the pair of girls who had fallen a bit behind, all the while holding onto the back of Tabitha's top as a means to stop the ball of energy from making it to the peak of Mt. Moon before the rest of them even reached the entrance.

"Muuuunch…" Bao lazily mumbled aloud while holding onto his rather large midsection.

"Man, we just ate." Riku sighed.

"Laaaax!" The Munchlax groaned audibly.

"Fine." Riku let go of Tabitha to reach into his bag and pull out a small tin full of dumplings that his mother had made for them. "You only get three aight?!" The boy pointed at the pokemon sternly before tossing each dumpling directly into the mouth of Bao.

"We gotta start poolin our money together to feed Bao." Riku said as he pivoted his foot to speak to the entire group, "Or else I'm leaving him on the side of the dam road" He inched his face closer to Bao's, who could have sworn his trainer grew horns and a devil tail for just a split second.

Tabitha laughed at the antics provided by Bao and Riku. "I've got some donuts in my bag, he can have some once we get to the mountain." That'll give the green blob something to look forward to, and maybe keep him from pestering Riku for a little while. Munchlax is a pretty cool Pokemon, and while she doesn't believe for even a second her buddy would leave his Pokemon, the poor little guy does look a little saddened by the threat, and she just can't have dampened spirits on their way to mount-freakin' moon.

A sudden weight leaves her shoulder as Ziggy leaps down and lands on the Munchlax's head, happily greeting him with a variety of squeaks.

"Aww, see, you can't leave him behind! They've bonded." She points out, now walking backwards so she can watch the Pokemon interact while continuing her speed walking.

Mortimer rose out of the shadows on the ground, clinging onto the Munchlax's back. He wasn't as vocal as Bao or Ziggy, but Lauren knew that didn't stop him being a part of the fun.

"Looks like that one is decided then" she chuckled.

Even Maria couldn't hide the small giggle at the scene that was playing out before her. She had never really had the chance to see people acting with such energy before, and it seemed to be quite infectious as the even the Pokémon were getting into the act. Maria felt a small squirm in her arms, causing her to look down at the Turtwig that had been nestled comfortably within. The turtle Pokémon seemed to be quite eager in walking a bit now, something that the tall girl was not about to deny him. She gently sat Sprout down on the ground, watching as he quickly scurried his way to join his fellow Pokémon with glee.

"They've certainly got a lot of energy, don't they…?" Maria questioned, just loud enough for Lauren to hear.

"Hard not to really." Lauren replied "It's exciting to be setting off on our own like this and leaving Pewter behind. Even Mortimer is being lively and he's usually pretty content to laze around."

Bao lazily trudged along the dirt, the electric and ghost type clinging off of his round body not affecting him in the slightest aside from the pat on the head he would give Ziggy every now and then.

"I think he thinks Ziggy is his new pet." Riku chuckled at the sight before him. "Bao, if you're able to make it to the pokemon center you'll get some more dumplings. I ain't trynna let you slow us all down." The Munchlax's ears perked up at the sound of his favorite food.

"Muuuunch…?" Bao turned to his trainer and pointed up the long hill laid out before them. At the top rested a lone building, iconic red roof and all.

"Oh...I thought it'd be a lot further out I ain't even gonna lie." Riku sighed.

"MUNCH!" The Munchlax darted up the hill at full speed, thoughts of dumplings fueling his mad dash. Ziggy and Mortimer struggled to hold on while Sprout just tried to keep up.

It was as the quartet of new trainers hurried after their Pokemon that the doors to the centre opened and a young blonde woman with outlandish twintail hair and a short skirt, midriff top combination came strolling out, laughing exuberantly. She was followed by a worried looking man in his thirties or forties with thinning brown hair, glasses and a lab coat.

"Aren't you listening to me?!" the man yelled frantically "It's too dangerous for anyone to go through mount moon outside of a large group right now." The young woman scoffed.

"Trust me, old man." she said, her voice oozing condescension "I am beyond capable of getting through that cave on my own." The man tried to stop her again, but she cut him off before strolling confidently into the cave entrance ahead.

"What was all that about?" Lauren wondered aloud. Before anyone could respond however, the scientist looked over at the group of onlooker.

"Are you four planning on going through Mount Moon too?" he asked nervously.

"That's right!" Tabitha enthusiastically replied.

"Well I'd suggest waiting until morning." the main said "I'm Boris from Dryad Labs, I've been researching in the area with my team. Recently the Pokemon in Mount Moon have been acting extremely aggressively, there's already been some serious injuries. If you need to get through, it's best to go in a large group. Explore the area around here a bit, you can travel through with my team in the morning. That's what I was trying to get that silly girl from before to do."​

Maria Cosgrove

Mt. Moon Pokémon Center

Chapter 2-1 | A Milestone

Current Party:

Whether they were all in agreement or not, it seemed as if the group was going to be spending the night at the Pokémon Center by the base of Mt. Moon. While Tabitha had voiced that she was eager to continue on with the journey, Maria found that this small break was very welcome. She was indeed enjoying her journey so far with her three friends. At the same time however, Maria still was not quite used to being in the company of those who simply weren't her parents for so long. As a result once the group got comfortable in the Pokémon Center, Maria had decided to excuse herself for a bit in order to get some fresh air outside and enjoy the setting sun. Of course, the tall girl didn't go on her own. Her beloved Turtwig was right by her side, eager to spend some personal time with his trainer.

"It's so pretty out here, don't you think Sprout...?" Maria asked as she glanced down at her Turtwig.

The little grass Pokémon let out a delighted gurgle as the duo made their exit from the Pokémon Center. The sun was just beginning to touch down upon the peaks of Mt. Moon, making for a rather picturesque setting. The sky was turning into that perfect blend of orange and blue. A gentle breeze blew through the air, carrying the gentle caws of a flock of Murkrow that flew off overhead. It was one of those moments where the blonde found herself wishing that she had brought a camera along with her to capture the scene perfectly on film. Of course, Maria didn't have a camera... and she really wasn't much of a photographer anyway. Instead she made the choice to capture the scene the only way she knew how, by sketching it out in her sketchpad.

"Still... something is missing..." Maria mused as she took a seat on a nearby rock, bringing her pencil to her lips. Sprout glanced up at the girl curiously, tilting his head as if to inquire what Maria was thinking about. A small smile played at her lips. "Sprout... how would you like to be in my sketch...?"

Sprout's eyes seemed to light up with glee at this question, something that Maria took to mean that the Turtwig was in agreement to. Maria was glad that her Pokémon partner was up to the task. The blonde wasted no time in getting Sprout into position, just a few feet up ahead near a rather tall oak tree. She needed to begin working quickly if she wanted to capitalize with what little bit of daylight was left. Thankfully, Sprout proved to be a very cooperative subject. The Turtwig was told to stay absolutely still by the base of the tree as Maria went to work sketching, something that he seemed to obey with ease.

"Yes... that's it..." Maria thought, glancing up to look at her Turtwig occasionally before returning her focus to the sketchpad.

The air around the duo was quiet, as if nature itself was helping to setup the perfect atmosphere of peace for Maria to work in. It was moments like this that really helped the girl to relax. It really helped her at the very least to gather her thoughts. While it was in fact a pleasing moment, she hoped that Lauren and the others understood her need for some alone time. Now that she was thinking about it, Maria realized that she had made a pretty hasty exit from the group for a bit. The last thing she wanted to do was to upset one of her friends so shortly after their journey had begun. The blonde made a mental note to apologize to them when she and Sprout finished up with their little sketching exercise. After all, it would at least be the polite thing to do.

Glancing up from her notepad, she noticed that Sprout was glancing up intently at the tree was standing by. Maria frowned at this, as she was rather enjoying the pose she was sketching. The slightest change could ruin the entire framing of the work, and the last thing she wanted was to have to scrap it after coming so far.

"Sprout... can you go back to looking down at that rock...?" Maria asked.

"Hoo..."

"You... I'm talking to you, Sprout," Maria responded.

"Hoo..."

"You... As in my Turtwig...?" she answered again.

"Hoo!"

Maria paused, realizing a key fact that she seemed to have forgotten rather quickly. Sprout was not capable of asking who... much less talking in general. In fact, the blonde was fairly certain that no Pokémon were capable of speech.

Slowly, Maria glanced up from her sketchpad. She tucked the book and her pencil away in her trainer's bag, before quietly making her way towards Sprout and the nearby tree. The tall girl suddenly had that creeping suspicion that she and her Turtwig were not the only two in the area. She also found herself with the rather sudden desire to return back into the Pokémon Center and into the company of her friends.

"Sprout...?" Maria called out, her voice barely above a whisper as she reached the Turtwig. "Sprout... I think we need to go..."

Unfortunately for the girl, she never got a chance to properly collect her Turtwig. No sooner had Maria managed to grab hold of Sprout's poké ball did she suddenly find herself under attack! A small, feathery blur suddenly dove out of the tree at the teenager, causing her to fall back onto her rump in the process. The good thing about that was it caused her assailant to miss its attack. Maria and Sprout both glanced upwards at the would-be attacker, coming face to face with what appeared to be a wild Pokémon of sorts.

The Pokémon was round and covered in feathers. It was fluttering above the duo rather clumsily, but despite this it seemed to be intent on attacking them. The most eye-catching feature of the wild Pokémon was its deep, red eyes and what looked to be giant furrowed eyebrows. Maria's eyes widened as she took the bird's features in. It was a Hoothoot... She had seen them several times back when she lived in Sinnoh, but she had always assumed they would be a much more common sight in Johto as opposed to Kanto.

This was not a good time to be awestruck and in wonder, however. As if signalling the girl back to reality, the wild Hoothoot made for a dive bomb attack in her direction once more. Maria froze in fear as she watched the owl Pokémon preparing to strike. She closed her eyes and braced for impact... only for nothing to happen. Nothing, save for the surprised, pain-filled screech that got her attention.

Slowly, Maria opened her eyes to see the wild Hoothoot faltering back in surprise. All the while, Sprout stood steadfast in front of her. The little Turtwig looked angry as he stared down at the bird. Clearly, Sprout was not happy that this Hoothoot was attempting to try and hurt his trainer.

"S-Sprout... W-We should go..." Maria called, slowly climbing to her feet. "If we run... maybe we can make it to the center... or call Lauren for help, or..."

Maria was caught off as Sprout glanced over his shoulder at the girl. He let out a short gurgle, shaking his head as he returned his focus to the wild Pokémon before him. It seemed like the Turtwig had no intention of running away. Maria had never seen Sprout like this before. It was quite surprising to say the least.

"Does he really want to battle it that much...?" Maria questioned, tightening the grip on her trainer's bag in the process. "I... We've never had a battle before... What if he gets hurt? I can't... I can't really let him do this... can I...?"

Maria glanced between the wild Hoothoot and her Turtwig, all the while her mind began to race with thoughts about just what she should do. The girl always knew that going on a journey such as this would eventually mean that she would need to embark on the whole "battling" aspect of being a trainer. That said, neither she nor her Turtwig had any real experience in the matter. It wasn't that she never planned to actually get any along the journey... However, she had always hoped that maybe Lauren or Riku would have given her a few a pointers or something as opposed to flying solo.

"I... I guess... I guess we have to try," Maria concluded. "O-Okay, Sprout... Let's d-do our best!"

As Maria hurried off to do her own thing, Lauren also excused herself. It had been a long time since she walked into Brock's gym that morning and the sun was now soon to be set. She figured it would probably be a good idea to actually call her parents and let them know how things had gone.

With Mortimer hovering by her head she found herself a quiet corner of the Pokemon Centre and pulled out the fancy new Holocaster she'd been given as a gift for heading out on her journey. She'd heard that over in Kalos they were extremely common devices, but in Kanto they were only just recently becoming more widespread. Kanto and Johto still favoured Pokegears for the most part. With their only daughter heading off to become a top tier trainer though, of course her parents had given her something flashy.

Truth be told, it wasn't like they couldn't afford it. While Lauren's family were hardly rich Saffron socialites, her parents made a comfortable living with money left over to spare. They both worked in executive positions for one of the mining companies operating in the Lunar Range around Mount Moon and so long as there was valuable rocks left to dig up, they'd not be going hungry.

Lauren selected her father's number and it wasn't long before his image appeared in front of her.

"Skull!" Mortimer greeted. Unlike Lauren's mother who had always been somewhat uncomfortable around the Ghost type, her dad had always been really affectionate with the little Pokemon.

"Ah, hello Lauren - and you Mort. Was expecting to hear from you earlier. How'd everything go?"

"Brock was tough but Mort pulled through and we won. Righ n-"

"Well _of course_ you won, silly." Lauren heard her mother say from out of shot as her father nodded in agreement.

"Not surprising at all!" he said "How'd you pull it off?"

"I just burned his Onix and waited the rest of the battle out. Nothing flashy or exciting."

"That makes for a smart trainer though, doesn't it?" the man said beaming at her "Don't try to appease an audience that isn't there. You want to go for the strategies that are efficient and effective."

"Right." Lauren replied, not particularly interested in a battling lecture from a man who'd never been much of a trainer himself. She'd battled her father and his Machop before and it had been the easiest battle she'd ever had. He could never help but give her pointers that she already knew though. The conversation went on like that for a while until Lauren's mother finally made a comment from out of shot that allowed her to steer things back to where she'd been aiming for.

"Yeah, we're at the Pokemon Centre outside Mount Moon right now." She neglected to mention the situation inside the mountain.

"You're getting along okay?" her mother asked, this time briefly appearing in front of her "I can't help but be a little worried about you travelling with these strangers you've never even-"

"Oh hush, she's clearly fine." Lauren's dad had his faults, but he'd always had a better grip on the modern world than her mother had and he tended to want to wrap Lauren up in cotton wool a lot less. Her mother was a weird juxtaposition of wanting her daughter to succeed at the highest level she could while also wanting to keep her buried under layers of bubble wrap. Lauren decided to answer anyway.

"They're not strangers. I've been talking to them on and off for years and regularly for months. We get along really well so far I think. We're all pretty different, but we're different in a kind of complimentary way. Riku and his Munchlax are really funny, Tabby and her Emolga are both really lively and Maria is really quiet but friendly, although her Turtwig is more sociable. We've only been travelling together a day now but it's already really hard to pick a highlight."

"Not your gym win?" her mum with the gym talk again.

"Other than that I mean." Lauren smiled "Anyway, I'm going to head off. Tabby has probably wandered off to who-knows-where and we should be having dinner soon. We'll probably just get something here in the centre. We haven't talked much about how we'll handle things like food when we're camping out so we should probably work that out too. Bye!"

"When you're wh-" her mum started but Lauren hung up before they could go into that conversation. Mortier tilted his head at her quizzically before floating over to rest on her shoulder against her head.​

Maria Cosgrove

Mt. Moon Pokémon Center

Chapter 2-2| The First Catch

Current Party:

"S-Sprout, attack with Tackle!"

The battle was quick to get underway. Though nervous beyond all reason, Maria managed to find enough courage to shout out a basic attack for her little Turtwig to attack with. The grass Pokémon scurried towards the wild Hoothoot with as much speed as he could muster, but he proved to be quite a bit slower than the bird Pokémon. The Hoothoot managed to easily dodge the attack, countering with a Tackle of its own as it slammed its body right into Sprout. Maria's eyes widened as her Turtwig staggered backwards, but managed to just barely keep balance and not fall over.

"I-It's okay, Sprout... T-Try to tackle it again!" Maria called out.

Sprout let out an angry gurgle as once more he began to charge towards the wild Hoothoot. The owl Pokémon did not seem the slightest bit phased by the oncoming attack, though. Much like before, the Hoothoot nimbly managed to flutter over the charging Turtwig, this time countering by slamming into Sprout beak first.

Maria winced at the sight of her beloved Pokémon partner in such pain. She instinctively reached for the Turtwig's poké ball, readying to recall him and then try to make a break for the Pokémon Center. However, Sprout seemed to catch sight of his trainer from the corner of his eye. A look of absolute defiance took over Sprout's features, one that the tall blonde had never seen before. Maria knew full well that the duo had never even battled against a wild Pokémon before. She admittedly found herself quite curious as to why Sprout was suddenly so adamant about fighting this one. Normally, he was happy to just play around with her and eat to his heart's content.

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Maria thought, watching as the wild Hoothoot made for another Peck attack. Thankfully, Sprout managed to dodge this one by hopping (albeit clumsily) to the side. "Wait... is he trying to protect me or something...?"

A sudden realization washed over the trainer. It wasn't so much that that Sprout was just hungry for a battle. Rather, it was because he felt it was his job to keep her safe. Maria suddenly found herself feeling a bit ashamed for simply wanting to turn tale and run, especially when Sprout was suddenly wanting to prove himself to her like this. Maria slowly lowered the Turtwig's poké ball, all the while a look of determination came to take over her own features as she faced down the wild Hoothoot along with her turtle Pokémon.

The Hoothoot prepared itself to attack again, this time homing in on the Turtwig with yet another Peck. Maria quickly thought of an idea, however. It was clear that the duo weren't going to be able to out speed the wild Pokémon, but maybe it was possible to catch the bird off guard.

"Sprout, u-use Withdraw!" Maria ordered.

Just as the wild Hoothoot was about to strike, Maria's Turtwig quickly managed to pull his stubby legs and head into his shell. This caused the Hoothoot to slam right into Sprout's shell, something which told Maria that it hurt the bird much more than it hurt Sprout. Maria's sudden plan did not stop there, though.

"Now, u-use Razor Leaf!" Maria called out.

While the Hoothoot was recovering from slamming into Sprout's shell, the Turtwig quickly popped back out and made for his own counter attack. A barrage of sharp, razor-like leaves shot out from the Turtwig's mouth, all of which began to cut right into the wild Hoothoot with surprising effectiveness. A pain-filled hoot echoed out through the air as the bird Pokémon fell to the ground in a mixture of surprise and anger. Unfortunately for the wild Hoothoot, Sprout's assault did not end there. Without even a command from his trainer, the Turtwig suddenly tackled right into the Hoothoot, sending it flying and landing roughly on its back on the ground.

Maria stared in absolute shock. Did... Did she manage to just win her first battle...?

The girl stood there for a moment, completely dumbfounded over the battle that had just happened. It was only when her Turtwig let out a rather short grunt did she snap back to reality. The blonde glanced down at her Turtwig, who in turn was staring intently at the ball in her hand. From there, he made a gesture towards the downed Hoothoot, as if he was expecting her to do something...

"...C-Catch it...?" Maria questioned.

The thought had never occurred to her until just now, and even then she wasn't quite sure. What if the Hoothoot did not want to be captured? What if it tried to attack her for doing so later? She had only been on this journey for a few hours... was she really ready to train TWO Pokémon?

Regardless of her hesitation, Maria really did not have too much longer to dwell on the situation. She suddenly found her body moving on its own, as she took hold of an empty poké ball from her trainer's bag and lobbed it right into the downed Hoothoot. Maria watched as the ball bounced up into the air and snapped open, encompassing the bird Pokémon in a bright, red light, before it pulled it inside and snapped closed. The ball hit the ground with a soft thud, slowly beginning to rock back and forth. It shook once... twice... three times... before suddenly becoming very still.

Maria caught a Pokémon...

The Lunar Range is far from being the largest mountain range in the world, even the nearby Silver Range tends to have taller mountains, but it's nothing to sneeze at. Especially the tallest and widest of the mountains, Mount Moon.

The enormous expanse of the mountain is too difficult to expect the average person to climb, so within several caverns have been carefully converted into makeshift roads complete with dim miner's lanterns hanging from the walls, making it possible to see in the murky caves. Straying off of those paths is inadvisable however as it doesn't take long to find yourself in total darkness and get lost.

Recently travelling through Mount Moon has become dangerous as for some reason many of the wild Pokemon within have become extremely aggressive.


Available Wild Pokemon

Lauren watched as the researchers went through their gear, making sure nothing important was missing. Including Boris, the man they'd met yesterday, there was only seven in the team, a few of them had their Pokemon out and about or even carrying loads. Overall, it seemed like they were extremely prepared. Given the dangerous situation they were apparently walking into, Lauren counted that a good thing.

She glanced to her left, on the ground next to where she was sitting with her bag behind her back. Mortimer was sitting there, quiet as always, watching the goings on of the research team with intense curiosity. Lauren liked that about the little guy. At first it seemed like he was kind of devoid of personality, but once you picked up on hs quirks, the opposite was clearly apparent.

"Enjoying yourself there? The others will be out here soon."

"Skull!"

"Are they planning on moving in?" Tabitha asks as she comes onto the scene, seeing just how many things their new travel companions were bringing into the cave. That's going to be a real drag to carry, and...it's probably going to slow them down. It's easy to see by the blonde's expression that she is itching to go, even as she stands, she continues to bounce on her toes (the cup of coffee she grabbed from the Pokemon center was probably not helping).

"Gah!" Ziggy cries in delight at the sight of Mortimer, whom he quickly flits down from Tabby's shoulder to greet. In his tiny hands is a soft Poke-treat, which he pulls apart, and offers half to his new ghostly pal.

"Aww." The sight makes Tabby's vibrant smile grow as she makes her way to Lauren. Wait, do ghost Pokemon eat? Does Duskull even have a mouth?

Lauren suppressed the need to sigh at that one and instead shifted to a small smile. It was a common misconception.

"He's a Ghost type, not an actual ghost. Even the ones that don't need normal food still have to have some sort of power source. That being said, Duskull do eat normal food. You just can't see their mouths." This was then given evidence to by Mortimer happily devouring the treat and cheering enthusiastically.

Before either of the two girls have further time to discuss the physical anatomy of ghost Pokémon, the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard approaching. From the top of the stairs came a rather flushed looking Maria. Her hair was still slightly messy and her jacket had yet to be zippened. Sprout was nestled tightly in her arms as she ran, while one of her hands held onto the poké ball which held her newly caught Hoothoot.

"I'm s-sorry… I overslept!" Maria exclaimed, her face red from embarrassment as she spoke.

"Not really,' Lauren replied "I'm just an early riser and how could a human battery like Tabby sleep in? Now we just need Riku and I think it'll be time to go by the looks of it." From a little ways ahead, Boris gave a thumbs up having overheard the conversation. "Definitely."

"MuuuUUuuuunChhhh…" A low and continuous grumble built up to an audible whine. Heavy footsteps dragged across the floor and arms hung low as Bao slowly shifted his way next to Mortimer and Ziggy, dropping all his weight at once and sitting down.

"Mornin' everybody..." Riku's voice was low and raspy, evidently from just waking up, with a head of hair that was just a tad more unruly than usual. He clutched onto a yellow bottle, his insulated flask of choice for any cup of tea he would want to enjoy. "I was brewin' some tea. My fault for takin' so long."

"Munch!" The normal type fell flat on his back.

"Oh. Bao just cranky whenever he wake up before gettin' 11 hours of sleep. Takes forever to get him outta bed, so don't mind his bratty ass." Riku chuckled as he took a sip of tea and patted the Munchlax on the stomach.

Mortimer began gently prodding the Munchlax's cheek as Boris sidled up to the group with a hefty pack on his back.

"Alright, time to be heading off."

---

So it was that the quartet of trainers found themselves inside the caverns of Mount Moon, surrounded by Boris' research team. The various scientists took to talking amongst themselves for the most part, although Boris and one or two of the others at least made the effort to make the younger trainers feel welcome. Lauren found herself standing next to Maria, slightly behind Boris with Riku and Tabby a bit further on still.

"It's quieter than you'd expect for a bunch of rampaging Pokemon." she observed as Mortimer nodded his head in agreement.

"W-Well… they are still Pokémon, right…?" Maria mused, the girl clutching the strap of her trainer's bag tightly as she spoke. Despite it being a cave, the taller girl was not expecting it to be so dark inside Mt. Moon… Plus the knowledge of the rampaging Pokémon did little to comfort her either. "M-Maybe s-seeing so many people has made them a bit nervous t-to c-come out and attack…?"

"Let's hope so!" A researcher said from somewhere to Maria's right. Lauren voiced her agreement as well.

"None of yall seen a scary movie? Don't ever say 'I hope so', 'It's quiet', or 'Let's split up'. Especially that last one. I ain't leaving the group for a second. My brown ass will be the first to go. It's always the brown one…" Riku mumbled the last bit with an audible sigh.

The cold air smothered the group, the occasional water drop falling onto the stone floor from the tips of the stalactites infesting the ceiling above. Despite what he had just said, the boy couldn't argue that it was indeed extremely quiet throughout the cave.

"Baaaooo!" Munchlax chirped out, extremely amused by the fact he could hear his own echoe.

"Bao you lucky I'm too busy makin' sure Tabitha hasn't run off from the rest of us," Riku glanced over to the Munchlax, making sure his flashlight still firmly placed at the back of Tabby who was just a few paces ahead of him. A baby sitter's duty is never finished, he was a damn hero.

"Baaaoooo…." Bao nudged Riku's side with his elbow, accompanied with a sly smirk and raised brow as if to question the true motive behind his trainer's careful watch over the girl. The trainer grew more annoyed by his pokemon's antics. He knew exactly what Bao was insinuating.

"Come here!" Riku lunged at Bao to grab his in a headlock but the normal type easily overpowered the boy and pushed his trainer into the back of Tabitha. The boy was able to catch his balance just a bit to avoid completely crashing into the girl but instead tiptoed past Tabitha and fell over a small ledge just beside her.

"Munch! Munchlaaax!" Bao fell to his back, rolling with laughter. Riku sat up, and managed a middle finger to his partner pokemon.

"Love you too ya lil asshole." Riku chuckled as the normal type helped him back up.

"Hey, now, if this is a horror movie, we're all doomed." Tabitha thought aloud as she delivered a playful nudge to Riku's chest with her elbow. "The blonde girl always goes, and, well." She made a grand gesture with her arms towards herself, then Lauren, and then Maria.

The morbid nature of her statement did not seem to phase her, as her excited smile never faded, and it was only a second or two after saying it that her eyes darted towards some markings on the cave wall. Conversation completely forgotten, the human battery quickly rushes towards it. "Hey, what do you think these mean?"

"Mol ga!" Ziggy, perched on Tabitha's shoulder, tugs on her hair, as if that will stop her. The others just finished saying how dangerous it would be for them to leave the group, and here she is, trying to leave the group!

"I just wanna look for a second." The hyper blonde pouts.

"Ga mol!" The small squirrel shakes his head in protest, pointing rather dramatically back towards Riku. So far the human had done a very good job of keeping his trainer from running off.

"Fiiine...probably just some scratch marks anyway." Tabitha grumbles as she trots back to the group, twirling on her toes as she returns to Riku and Bao, making a point to walk between the two. "Sooo, what are we looking for, exactly?"

At that moment, the group stepped into a wider chamber where three different paths branched off into the mountains caves. Then, the roaring began. A loud, low howl that seemed to echo from all direction, the ground trembling with it.

"Probably not that." One of the researchers said. Several of them could be seen reaching into bags or for pokeballs on their belts. They never got a chance to use them. The ground under their feet exploded and an enormous silver leviathan with a gigantic head and stalagmite offshoots from its sides rose up from the ground, the roar it was producing now an ear splitting racket.

Several of the scientists plummeted down the hole that the rampaging Steelix had produced as the rest of the assembled group scattered in all directions. Stalagmites and boulders plummeted from above towards the fleeing trainers and when the dust cleared, the group was separated… and the roaring Steelix could still be heard. One of the smaller groups were still in its company.​

Lauren hit the ground hard, clutching Mortimer in her arms and curling up with him instinctively as the torrent of stone fell from above. Then, as quickly as the attack began, she ear-splitting rumbling faded and Lauren opened her eyes? only to find she still couldn?t see anything but the red glow of Mortimer?s eyes. She saw them tilt as the Pokemon cocked his head to the side.

?Skull??

?I?m alright, Mort. Glad to see you?re safe.? There was a rustling from nearby as a third voice joined the hushed conversation.

?Lauren?? The voice was male, but not hugely familiar. It took Lauren a second to register that it was Boris talking. She responded to the lead scientist. Groaning, she climbed to her feet, reaching into her bag and by touch alone bringing out her torch. She clicked it on and turned the powerful beam towards the man. It didn?t make an enormous amount of difference, the air was thick with churning dust from the cave in, but she saw him rummaging through his own bag to access his own flashlight.

When the beam of his torch joined hers, she turned her attention to the now blocked off entrance to the tunnel they?d dived into. There wasn?t a tiny sliver of space that wasn?t occupied by heavy rubble. Lauren cautiously approached the new wall and rested her hand against it. She could faintly hear the roaring of the Steelix still and feel its movements as vibrations in the rock. For the noise to have become that faint, the amount of stone between her and everyone else must have been enormous.

?Can anyone hear me?!? she called as loud as she could. Unsurprisingly, she did not receive an answer. Mortimer floated back to her, settling himself into her grasp. She smiled at that, it was comforting to know she had him there given the grim circumstances.

?We need to get moving.? Boris broke the moment ?This area of the cave might be unstable still and while we might not be able to hear each other through all that rock, let alone pass through it, that Steelix could burst through in an instant if it so chooses and send the ceiling plummeting onto us again.?

Lauren found that what the man said made sense, but a part of her still found it hard to get moving. She was pretty sure she?d seen some of those scientists falling through the floor. Maybe Boris hadn?t.

?Boris?? she started, but he cut her off.

?Your friends were all on the edges of the cave in. They probably made it. I?m aware that a sizeable chunk of my team probably weren?t that lucky but that doesn?t change the fact that we need to leave. Let?s go.?

Lauren nodded as the man turned and headed into the cave, following behind him with Mortimer still in her arms.

---

Neither she nor Boris said another word to each other for a long time after the mutual agreement to leave the site of the cave collapse behind. Mortimer was always quiet. So the three of them moved forwards through the darkness in total silence bar the fall of their feet on the dirt floor of the cave.

?There?s light up ahead.? Boris said, finally breaking their silence. He flicked off his torch for a moment so Lauren could see better, and sure enough there was the faint glow of sunlight in the distance. The scientist flicked his torch back on and the hush resumed as he began trudging towards the natural light.

The cave was extremely straight and equally as long. The journey wasn?t difficult, but Lauren was acutely aware that they seemed to be heading in the complete wrong direction to Cerulean now. What was more, as they got closer and closer to the light, she could begin to hear a faint noise. Every step they took causing the sound to grow progressively louder in her ears until she could identify it as a cacophony of hundreds of flapping wings. Still, they didn?t slow down. Even if what was ahead was dangerous in the end, it was the only route available anyway and neither of them wanted to retreat back down the extent of the tunnel they?d just passed through only to reach the dead end they new was at the other end.

Following behind the scientist, Lauren climbed through a narrow gap in the wall at the rear of the cave. Mort floated through a moment later as she switched off her light. They were still inside the caves it seemed, several more tunnels extended off of the open cavern they had emerged to. However, there was an enormous opening above, open to the sun and sky. She could barely make it out however past the gigantic swarm of screeching Golbat and Zubat that filled the space above.

?This area was hit by a lot of meteorites in the past.? Boris said ?That?s probably how this cavern was made. Zubat and Golbat love these spots because it makes it easy to get out and look for food and then to retreat back into the cave during the day.? He then turned and began moving towards one of the offshoot tunnels that seemed to curve back towards the way they?d come.

Lauren was about to follow after him when she was interrupted by Mortimer.

?Skull!? Lauren turned back around to see the little Ghost was indicating the swarm, or rather, a specific point among the mass of Zubat and Golbat. It took her a moment to catch on, but after a few seconds it did become clear. In the wild, Zubat and Golbat were not usually this active during the day. She watched for a moment longer, a realisation dawning on her.

?Lauren, we need to keep moving.? Boris said from the entrance to the tunnel he had been approaching. Lauren didn?t move though, she watched the Flying types with astonishment.

?Boris, they?re all attacking one of the other Zubat.?​

Maria Cosgrove

Mt. Moon

Chapter 3-1 | Alone

Current Party:

Maria groaned softly as she slowly began to stir. Memories of the cave-in were still vivid in her mind as she slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position, making an attempt to get her bearings straight from the strife that had been caused. Thankfully, Sprout and her Hoothoot, which she had dubbed Quinn, had been both tucked away inside of their poké balls prior to the group setting out. This meant that both of the Pokémon were okay, something that she confirmed with a sigh of relief as she found that she still had both of their balls after the incident.

"Is... Is e-everyone okay...?" the girl called out, her normally soft voice echoing out through the dark and damp tunnels of Mt. Moon.

She waited for a moment, keeping an ear out for the sounds of Riku, Lauren, Tabitha, or any of the scientists that had been with them to respond. Unfortunately, the only sound that was heard by her in response was the sound of the occasional water dripping from the ceiling and what appeared to be a gentle breeze blowing through the rocky corridors. Immediately, a feeling of dread began to set in for the girl as she climbed to her feet and began to look around. The darkness of the cave made it rather difficult for her to see, so the girl quickly reached into her trainer's bag and pulled out her Pokégear. Maria was quick to switch the device on, setting its brightness as high as it could go in an attempt to make it a sort of make-shift flashlight.

"L-Lauren...? Tabitha...? R-Riku...?" she called out, moving her light around as she called out the names of companions.

But no one answered. The girl was completely and utterly alone. A feeling of dread and panic began to set in as she came to the realization that she was on her own. What if something had happened to them? What if they were hurt or... or something worse...? Maria absolutely cringed at the thought. When the girl had set off from Pewter City with her friends, this was not how she expected something to turn out. To make matters worse, there was no signal for her Pokégear to pick up inside of Mt. Moon. Even if she wanted to try and contact someone, they wouldn't have been able to respond.

"C-Calm down, Maria... I'm... I'm sure it's j-just a set back..." the girl whimpered quietly. "I j-just... I just need to find a way to the exit... It c-can't be too f-far, right?"

Of course, it didn't help the girl's situation with the fact that no one was there to respond. Maria could already tell that she wasn't going to get anywhere just wandering around on her own. The girl's anticipation and unease was going to make sure of that. Not knowing what else to do, the girl took hold of the poké balls holding Quinn and Sprout and tossed them out into the air. The devices snapped open, releasing her Turtwig and Hoothoot out into the open.

Sprout looked around slowly, taking in his surroundings with a bit of caution. He wasn't sure exactly what had been transpiring since his trainer had recalled him into his poké ball earlier that morning, but the little turtle was able to tell that it wasn't anything good based on the worried expression on her face. Meanwhile, Quinn herself seemed to be a bit indifferent to the whole thing. She was more concerned about why she was in such a dark and dirty cave, especially when there didn't even seem to be any worthwhile opponents in sight for her to test her strength against.

"S-Sprout... Quinn..." Maria began, kneeling down to the side of the two Pokémon. "I don't know how, b-but... there's been a cave in... We've been split off from Tabitha and the others..." Both Pokémon remained silent, staring at their trainer intently as she spoke. At the very least, the two seemed to be attentive to the situation at hand. "I don't even know if they're alive or w-where we are, but... W-We have to find a way out of here... W-Will you two help me...?"

Sprout was quick to offer his assistance. The tiny turtle Pokémon quickly took point, putting on the most determined face he could possibly muster. It looked as if the Turtwig was attempting to play the role of bodyguard for his trainer. As for Quinn, the Hoothoot seemed a bit reluctant to answer at first. There was something about her trainer that was striking her as... weak... Perhaps it was something about the stammering voice or the way she appeared to be visibly shaking, but regardless the Hoothoot knew that she didn't have much say in the situation for the time being. With a solemn nod, Quinn fluttered up to Maria's shoulder and perched on top of it. The girl watched as her Hoothoot's eyes began to glow a faint red, the bird Pokémon clearly taking the role of lookout for the team.

Maria smiled weakly, feeling a bit relieved that her team was willing to assist her for the time being. With a little luck and some hard work... they might just make it out of this alive. Hopefully, Lauren and the rest of Maria's friends would do the same.

​

​

?As unfortunate as that is, that means they aren?t attacking us.? Boris said ?This is our chance to leave unscathed.? Mortimer stared at the scientist intently, his point on the matter quite clear. Lauren was more split on the decision than she?d have liked to admit. She felt exactly the same as her Duskull did, but the point remained that there was logic to Boris? statements. Interfering could get them killed.

?Zubat and Golbat don?t usually act like this.? Lauren said, finding herself glancing between the commotion above and the nearby escape route. Boris didn?t seem particularly swayed by this point.

?That is true. Zubat generally prioritise the flock over themselves. So either that Zubat is not a part of their group or they are being aggressive for some other reason. If it?s the latter, we could easily be next and I don?t want to take that risk.? Lauren missed what the scientist said next over a sudden, deafening screech from above, however she was pretty sure she heard the scientist say something about ?immunity?. She was about to ask him to repeat himself when Mortimer suddenly called out.

?Skull!? she looked around again, the bats were attacking even harder now. It seemed that the cry before had come from the one they were victimising.

?Screw it, we have to help it or they?re going to tear it apart.? she looked apologetically at Boris before focusing her attention on the swarm. ?Mort, Night Shade!? Mortimer floated up and away from Lauren at the command, and then let loose the attack. A shadow-Mort burst out from him, expanding until it washed over several of the bats, blasting them away from the lone Zubat. Lauren knew that this wasn?t a fight that they had a hope of winning, but they didn?t need to win. They just needed to buy the Zubat time to escape and then make a run for it.

Enraged, several Zubat dived for Mortimer. Lauren gave the order to use Shadow Sneak and her Duskull became a shadow himself this time, shooting under the diving Zubat and causing them to nearly run themselves into the ground as he materialised behind them. They didn?t hit the ground though and simply wheeled around to fly back at Mortimer. He blasted them with another Night Shade, but this was far from enough to take an entire group of Pokemon out of a fight at his level.

The group of Zubat hurtled towards him, and this time he wasn?t able to escape. Lauren watched in horror as no less than five Zubat latched on to him with their sharp teeth using a Bite attack. It only looked worse too as a Golbat broke off from the main swarm and began winging its way towards Mortimer.

?Disable!? Lauren yelled. Mortimer unleashed a pulse of blue light and the Zubat all suddenly dropped from him, their jaws loosening instantly as the attack blocked their ability to use Bite. ?Behind you Mort!? Lauren called. Mortimer whirled around as the Golbat reached him and raised up his tiny arms. From between them a blast of swirling black and purple erupted, the nefarious looking attack sending the Golbat careening across the cavern from the close range shot.

Lauren looked on, surprise etched on her face as Mortimer turned back on the previous group of Zubat to deflect another onslaught from them with the new attack.

?Since when can you use Dark Pulse?!? Lauren asked incredulously. Mortimer merely shrugged and turned back to the battle just in time for an beam of electrical energy to fly past him and collide with the returning Golbat, fainting it and taking it out of the battle. Lauren turned to her side to see a Magnemite floating there, Boris apparently having joined the battle while she was caught up in the moment and the excitement of Mortimer?s new move.

?If we?re doing this, we should do it quickly. We are very much at a disadvantage here.? he said before directing his Magnemite to Charge Beam the Zubat Mortimer had been battling and take them out of the battle.

?Alright, use Dark Pulse to clear them away!?

?Charge Beam, Magnemite!?

The next several minutes were just a flurry of attacks to Lauren. One moment Mortimer would clear a path for the struggling Zubat with a swirling blast of darkness, then as its rampaging pursuers reconverged they?d be shot from the sky by the crackle of the Magnemite?s Charge Beam, the move becoming progressively more powerful as the battle continued.

Still, the onslaught of bats kept coming and it was tiresome work. It was clear to Lauren that they couldn?t keep it up much longer. So she took the best move she had available to herself. She waited as long as she could, letting the Zubat get closer and closer, then once it was within range she put her plan into action. As the next wave of bats was defeated by Mort and Boris? Magnemite, she reached for a Pokeball and hurled it as hard as she could, hoping she could make the distance.

Sure enough she could, the Zubat was sucked into the ball in a beam of red light and fell to the ground. Moving through the shadows, Mort collected the ball and brought it back to her.

?Now we need to run!? Boris yelled, making a break for his chosen exit. Lauren followed close behind, the swarm was turning on them now. The bats dived after them as they ran. They were gaining faster than they could run and it wouldn?t be long until they were upon them. So as soon as they were into the cavern, Lauren called to Boris.

?Cave it in!? It seemed like the scientist agreed because the next thing she new, a Flash Cannon was tearing into the ceiling of the tunnel. ?Help, Mort!? A Dark Pulse soon joined the shining attack, and with a crash and a rumble they found themselves sealed off again.​

1.0: Calculated Rescue

Drip. Drip.

"Water source within vicinity. Reference notes from previous research excursion."


"Right, that was the runoff from an underground stream," she replied out-loud to the electronic voice sounding in her head. "Add to note: minimal water sources may facilitate hostility between wilds."


Kimberly steadily walked forward into the darkness, her flashlight beam illuminating the way. Beside her, Ivy floated close by, her green eyes and hand nodes illuminated against the blackness. The two were out yet again to study the Pokemon habitats and their daytime behavior, the one phenomenon she'd struggled to observe so far. The most they've found is that, yes, Zubat are nocturnal and don't like being disturbed with bright flashlight beams. They had been unable to get close enough to the rest of the Pokemon present to truly evaluate the cause of the reported aggression.

Even Pokemon that had no previous hostility seemed to come at odds with humans. Ivy had to restrain a Chingling that got rather ambitious with its Uproar when Kimberly stumbled onto a nest that she previous noted as abandoned. Chingling were normally docile enough to be pets without any prior conditioning, so it struck her as odd. What perplexed her further is why cave travel hadn't been restricted. She pondered why convenience of the shorter travel from Pewter to Cerulean was worth the risk of Pokemon attacks. It may be one thing she'll never understand.

After 10 minutes of walking, she paused as she rounded a descending corner into the cave. Piles of crumbled rocks laid in piles against the wall, spilling from the ceiling. Various cracks dotted the ground. Kimberly surveyed the area carefully with her flashlight. "Ivy, survey structure integrity." Ivy's eyes shuttered into a yellow color with a tiny click.


That caught her attention. "Detailed report on seismic activity."


"Any reports?"


"Interesting... it must have occurred recently. Analyze current seismic activity." Ivy floated down from the air and placed the nodes of her hand on the ground. After a minute of analyzing, she floated back up.


"0.2? That's impossible. Compare to previous analysis." Ivy's eyes flickered red as she ran through the previous reports.


Kimberly bit her lip. That was much higher than normal. Previously, seismic activity only registered less than 0.1 in Mt. Moon, which researchers theorized takes the entire Pokemon population within to create. For something to increase the activity that high... "Access public regards of Pokemon spotted in Mt. Moon."

Ivy's eyes glowed green as they projected a holographic display with Pokemon images listed in a column, with details provided to the right. Kimberly looked the list up and down, remembering what she wrote about each Pokemon. "There's nothing here that should cause that much seismic activity. Even Onix aren't large enough to do that."

Nervously, Kimberly turned back towards the tunnel and began moving forward. Ivy followed close behind, the holographic display disappearing. As she journeyed deeper through the public road, she began to notice more unusual occurrences that weren't there the last time she came through. Some piles of rocks here and there, some malfunctioning lanterns that flickered on and off intermittently, even a cracked support beam. Something's different. None of this was happening the last time I was here. Where did all of this damage come from?

The deeper Kimberly went, the more damage started appearing. Finally, she arrived to a point where she could no longer continue as a large pile of boulders had collapsed onto the road, blocking further passage. "What in the world...? There must have been a cave-in. Ivy, can this be cleared?" Ivy's eyes flickered red as she surveyed the cave-in.


"Use Telekinesis." Ivy raised her arms, her nodes glowing multiple colors. Slowly, the rock spillage began to lift in the center. Tinier rocks began tumbling down as the rocks below shifted, which Ivy deflected with Telekinesis. Soon, a makeshift passage was present, which Kimberly brisked walked under. On the other side, it was pitch black. "Power outage." Ivy floated through the passage to hover beside her. "Ivy, from what distance can you keep the passage open?"


That wasn't ideal. She needed Ivy to light the way - her flashlight wasn't going to cut it. Grey wouldn't be any help here. Their strength was useless compared to Ivy's. "Okay, we need to go back."

Suddenly, however, she heard groaning from up ahead. She shined her flashlight down the cavern, but didn't see anything. Pausing, she waited to hear more noise. Nothing sounded out. "Ivy, replay audio feed, 10 seconds."

Ivy's eyes flickered yellow as she processed the audio. The rocks shifted slightly as the Telekinesis lost a small amount of power. The audio feed played back through Ivy's telepathy in Kimberly's head. The groan was there, clearer through Ivy's audio processor. Someone's further in. They sound hurt. I have to get them. "Ivy, safety protocol override #3."


"0928."


Kimberly waved Ivy off as she continued forward carefully in the darkness. She kept the flashlight centered around a few feet in front of her, making sure she didn't trip on something or cause more collapsing. She was on the lower level of Mt. Moon, so her real concern was above, but for now it seems the cave had stabilized. As she kept moving forward, she didn't hear the person groaning from before. Just as she was about to give up hope, however, she noticed a bright beam just a few feet up ahead. She scrambled forward. As she came around an alclove, her beam landed on the face of a barely-conscious girl lying against the rock wall. Her flashlight laid beside her, casting the beam forward.

Kimberly knelt down, checking her over for injuries. She seemed to have some scrapes on her arms and legs, but otherwise looked okay. Kimberly grabbed the other flashlight and dropped it into the big pocket on her bag. She pulled out a pair of latex gloves and slipped them on before propping the girl up with one arm while throwing the girl's arm over her shoulder. "My name is Kimberly Crawford," she spoke as she began walking forward with the girl. "I'm an intern at the Saffron Institute for Pokemon Research. Are you able to tell me your name?"

The girl barely shook her head in response. It was clear that, whatever was happening to her, she was extremely out of it. "Okay, I'm going to get you out of here and get you to a Center as fast as possible. If you need to stop, tell me."

After about 20 more minutes of walking, Kimberly managed to get the girl back to the passage, where Ivy was waiting patiently. She pulled the girl through the makeshift tunnel with Ivy following close behind. One on the other side, she moved the girl away from the rubble and let Ivy release the rocks, which tumbled down loudly. Ivy floated over to Kimberly, who was sweating from the exertion. "Ivy, scan her." Ivy's eyes flickered red as a holographic beam scanned up and down the girl's body.


Kimberly huffed. "Help me get her out." As she re-lifted Tabitha, Ivy's hand nodes glowed again as her Telekinesis helped support the girl. The two of them began walking, Kimberly suffering less with Ivy's aid. "File report to Kanto Police: cave-in on lower level Mt. Moon. One injured. No report on others within. Include coordinates."


Following 10 minutes of walking, Kimberly saw the exit up ahead. "Finally. What a waste. I didn't get any research done." She sighed as she continue towards the exit. Ivy floated after them, saying nothing as her Telekinesis warped around Tabitha's body.