From 'Time Is Running Out'
It had been many hours since Luna and the tired Mudkip had left the clearing where they'd battled the Butterfree. The ball had finally stopped rolling from side to side, dinging quietly to indicate Butterfree had given in.
Though the path they'd been following had turned mountainous and the sun had hidden itself behind the clouds for the majority of the climb, Luna couldn't wipe the smile of her face. She'd finally caught her very first Pokemon, particularly because of Mudkip's quick thinking, she kept reminding herself, hoping that Mudkip was having a good rest in her Pokeball.
As she walked, taking care to watch her footing amongst the rocky ground, Luna pulled out Butterfree's Pokeball. It was brimming with a slight warmth, unlike Mudkip's Pokeball which felt quite cold. Luna could have sworn it was slimy but that could have just been her hands sweating.
As she stared at Butterfree's Pokeball, she finally found the courage to press the white button, aiming the beam of blue light in the air. Butterfree quickly materialised, delicate wings flapping as the Butterfree stabled itself in the air.
"Hi Butterfree," Luna had decided a bold approach would be better to portray after the Pokemon had seen her indecisivness when she had battled against it.
"Free, free,"
Luna instantly took a liking to Butterfree's gentle voice, quiet in the open air. She knew the situation was slightly awkward but atleast Butterfree hadn't tried to run away. Butterfree would never do that though. Sure, he was a freshly caught wild Pokemon but the battle Butterfree had been part of earlier had changed Butterfree's view. This trainer, the only trainer Butterfree had ever encountered, seemed to have something. Whatever it was, Butterfree knew, in the end, he'd try hard and battle hard for his new trainer.
"I'm sorry if we hurt you before," Luna said, motioning to Butterfree to follow her as they made their way towards the looming tunnel entering the side of the mountain. "That was my first battle, I wasn't sure how far to take it,"
Butterfree nodded and Luna smiled back. The mutual understanding formed between the two grew in strength as they walked, or in Butterfree's case, flew up to the tunnel. Along the way, Luna watched with curiousity as Butterfree landed on many branches for a couple of seconds, drinking nectar or nibbling at fruit. On one occasion he managed to pull off what looked like an Oran berry, offering it to Luna, who gladly accepted.
"Butterfree, you don't mind keeping me company through the tunnel, right?" She asked, slightly hesitant. Luna hoped Butterfree wasn't afraid of the dark. "I want to give Mudkip a little longer to rest and it'd be good if we could get through this before the sun goes down," Absentmindedly checking the sky, it looked as if they had a good couple of hours of daylight left. Not that that would matter once inside the mountain. Butterfree only nodded in reply, fluttering over to rest on Luna's shoulder.
After scrambling over rocks and Butterfree flying ahead to see where exactly the entrance was, Luna and Butterfree finally made it. It was there they stopped for a break. Luna let Mudkip out to see how she was feeling and to introduce her properly to Butterfree. Mudkip seemed to be feeling a bit better, as was Butterfree from the variety of berries he'd eaten along the way. Butterfree managed to find some more Oran berries for Mudkip to eat whilst Luna snacked on dried fruit and a museli bar. She happily shared her peanuts with Mudkip and Butterfree, who chattered together for the time they rested, obviously both liking the salt.
It was not long before Luna, Butterfree and Mudkip found themselves inside the rather dark tunnel. They had to mostly feel their way through. Luna held Mudkip in arms, who could see even less than she could whilst Butterfree perched on her shoulder, able to see better than both of them.
Tripping was a problem, for there were so many rocks and the ground the terribly uneven. Her right ankle was starting to hurt, she just hoped it wasn't twisted. Luna longed for the open air, though she knew this was the only the forward.
The threesome soon encountered what seemed to be a water reserve, indicating to Luna they'd come quite far into the mountain. Mudkip found the courage to leave the group for a while and enjoy the small pool of water that had accumalated in the cavern. Though she was glad Mudkip was enjoying splashing around in the water, she couldn't help wish that she had been given a fire type, then at least they could have a little more light than what was already in the cavern. She was also worried about her ankle, eager to inspect it in the light. Feeling around, Luna's hand came into contact with a solid, rocky surface, smooth and cold to the touch. Luna leant against it, trying to make out more shapes in the dark. She wasn't that afraid of the dark, just not knowing what was out there was kind of creepy.
All of a sudden, there was movement. The rocky surface Luna had been leaning against had moved. She was thrown foward, hurting her ankle even more whilst Butterfree was knocked from her shoulder. He was lucky to gain his balance back in the air quickly. As Luna tried to gain focus on what had happened, which she fear was an earthquake, she felt Mudkip jump to her side as she sat helpless on the rocky floor.
A loud rumble filled the small cavern as it echoed around. Flapping wings caught her off guard as she saw a colony of Zubat zoom out of the cavern at a high speed. If they were getting out of here, they should too.
Scrambling to get up, Luna made sure she had her backpack before calling into the darkness to her Pokemon.
"Butterfree, Mudkip, we gotta-" Luna was cut off by another loud rumble, this time sounding more like a call.
Luna, attempting to find a way out of the cavern, glimpsed to white eyes in the dark. Whatever she had been leaning against was no mere rock. Luna bent to scoop up Mudkip in her arms and called to Butterfree to follow before she turned to escape in a direction she thought was out. She must have been right though, for the path she had taken started to travel upwards and the dark seemed be retreating.
Whatever had called out in the darkness, whatever Luna had leant against, it had ceased to follow them. Luna was relieved, as was Mudkip and Butterfree. Despite Butterfree being able to see somewhat well in the darkness, even he didn't know what had made that deafening sound.
"Maybe it was some kind of Pokemon?" Luna suggested as the stopped briefly, panting as she stared at her ankle, which seemed slightly worse. It couldn't be that
bad though, she could still walk on it, right?
"I think we should get out of here now, I'm starting to find I'm afraid of the dark again,"
Mudkip and Butterfree both agreed. They followed the somewhat directional path, Luna's hands trailing against the wall to make sure the followed the trail. It was not long, as light began to filter through the darkness, that they encountered another disturbance.
Luna had not noticed how the dirt beneath her feet had turned from a rocky surface to a sandy texture, crumbling off the walls as well. It was out of a large pile of sand off to one side of the path that Mudkip happened to trot through, enjoying the feel of the sand, that a dark orange Pokemon somewhat larger than Mudkip popped out, teeth beared in an overly friendly smile. Luna got a rather large fright, her deafening scream echoing throughout the tunnel. Butterfree, out of fright, aimed a perfectly executed stun spore at the attacker, who unfortunately got most of the attack. It started to writh in pain amongst the sand, attempting to bury itself again but failed to do so, paralyzed on the spot. Mudkip's reaction was solemn, not even realising she had disturbed the peace in the tunnel.
"What is that?" Luna questioned after getting over her sudden fright, kneeling down to peer at the Pokemon who couldn't move. It's dark orange leg twitched
every now and then, a small moan of pain coming from it's open mouth.
"Mudkip, Mudkip, Mud," Mudkip seemed to be stating, attempting to sound knowledgable but failed since Luna could not understand her.
The dark orange Pokemon then managed to roll over, standing on all fours though it was still somewhat paralyzed.
"Trapinch!" It yelled, seeming quite furious due to Butterfree's actions.
"Sorry for hurting you, uh.." Luna reached into the pocket of her denim jeans, pulling out a slightly squashed berry of some description. "Try this, it might help,"
The unknown Pokemon took the berry with caution, eyeing all three of the faces peering at it. It did eat the berry very fast though, Luna noticed, despite being paralyzed and cautious of them.
"Must love food little guy?" Luna said, reaching forward to attempt to scratch the Pokemon on it's head. He had somewhat scaley skin. It allowed Luna to scratch his head for a couple of seconds before decided against it, clamping his teeth down on her hand. Luna, her face turning red, stiffled another scream, biting her own lip as she tried to free her hand.
Mudkip and Butterfree seemed equally unimpressed by this action. Mudkip opened her mouth, shooting the Pokemon in the face with a water gun whilst Butterfree dove at the Pokemon, repeatedly tackling the Pokemon in the head. Despite these actions, the Pokemon would not let go of her hand. Luna looked at Mudkip and Butterfree, telling them to stop attacking. She decided to try a different approach, the Pokemon seemed to be getting droopy though his jaw was firmly clamped over her fingers.
"Hey little guy, if you let go of my hand I can give you some food," She tempted, watching as the Pokemon infront of her still twitched slightly from the paralysis.
It took a while for the Pokemon to decide but it did finally let go of Luna's hand, which had turned a funny shade of purple and blue. It hurt slightly as the blood rushed back into her hand, the bite mark clearly visible above her fingers. Luna was true to her word though, as the dark orange Pokemon found out, for it was soon chomping happily on a broken up museli bar, the rest of the berries Butterfree had collected and to their disappointment, the salty peanuts.
"We'd better get going now," Luna finally said, the Pokemon starting on the peanuts now. It stopped abruptly, looking expectantly at Luna. "I bet it'll be getting dark now."
The light had stopped breaking the darkness in the tunnel by now. Luna retrieved her backpack as Butterfree came to land on her shoulder once more. As they turned to leave, feeling anxious to be out in the open once more, Luna felt a tug on her shoe. She looked down to find the Pokemon had grabbed onto her shoelace, it's eyes slightly watery, if that was possible.
"Go and eat your berries now," Luna said in a hushed tone before she ventured off once more, leaving the unknown Pokemon all alone once more.
Luna couldn't help feeling slightly sorry for the little Pokemon, all alone in the tunnel. As they neared the exit of the tunnel, Luna thought she'd heard it crying but realised her ears must have deceived her. She had bitterly hoped the little guy would tag along behind them, for even though it had nearly bitten her fingers off, she'd taken an instant liking to it.
Oh well, she thought, too late now. Right now, Luna had to concentrate on making it out of the tunnel with Butterfree and Mudkip and then find a place to camp for the night. She couldn't possibly take on another Pokemon, not so soon after she'd just caught Butterfree, right?