Feel The Ground Shake (Pokemon - Ground-type specialist)

[NokoTheTaco]

Also, I'd argue that if boosting moves were too similar, it wouldn't be exponential.

Like, swords dance and hone claws both work off sharpness, so thats additive. Shell smash wouldnr be compatible with rock polish, because you just shattered that polished shell.

Click to shrink...

What if it depends on the order that you use the moves? So, Rock Polish into Shell Smash wouldn't work because of what you said above, but Shell Smash into Rock Polish would work because your polishing what's under the smashed shell?

 

[LordVishnu]

Chapter 21

Blackthorn City

"That's alright, Junior. You can return now."

The young piglet sags bonelessly into the dirt as the Pokéball recalls him, absolutely tuckered out beyond belief. A piteous little whine sounds in defeat as he disappears and despite the loss I applaud his effort.

As a boundless ball of fluff and zoomy energy, he made the opponent work for that win.

Noctowl: Lv. 25
Nature: Lax
Potential: D+

After coming down from the high of my victory for the Rising Badge -thankfully with no mandatory sidequests to the Dragon Den like in the games-, I decided to finish my time in Blackthorn with a day or two at the local battle courts.

Not for anything big, mind you. I was hoping for some more 'low to the ground' style matches where I could focus on the weaker members of my party. Swinub especially.

It has been a challenge, I'll tell you that.

There's really only three types of trainers who exist in Blackthorn.

1) People who are here to challenge the Gym themselves. Almost all of them at the eighth Badge level -per Johtonian tradition- and who are carrying parties whose strength level reflects that.

These individuals have been giving me a wide berth. As much as Lori was just tickled pink by the relaunch of my public persona over the Net, most others have decided to avert their eyes, turn off the 'battle everyone they see' instincts, and shelve me firmly into the 'Do Not Fuck With' category.

Even if you ignore Grundy's appearance at the end, both Vlad and Ma Ma demonstrated what they can do against seventh/eighth Badge level Pokémon and no one wants to be on the receiving end of a party wipe.

Not that they know those aren't the team members I'm interested in training right now.

2) Local trainers who idolize the Blackthorns, Dragon-types, and really everything else that goes along with that. I'm sure you can imagine the groupies and fanboys the so-called 'Strongest type' attracts. Quite the prideful bunch when it comes to the reputation of their city.

To these people, I am not just someone to steer clear of. I am persona non grata. Achievement unlocked I suppose. It'd be one thing if I simply defeated Clair. If I had won a hard fought victory through strength, wit, determination, and all that wonderfully cliché shonen trope jazz.

We all know that's not how it went down though. I didn't beat Clair, I embarrassed her. From my initial showing up with only five badges to the thing with Altaria to the- well, we won't ramble on about it. Suffice to say, these people don't like me.

I've tweaked them right on the nose of their oh so precious 'pride'.

Which really only leaves our final group for those I can take a casual low-stakes step into the ring with.

3) Other.

Obviously the most diverse -if not smallest- of the factions.

Hikers from the nearby mountains. The odd traveling gentlemen or two. There was even a pair of old geriatrics here not too long ago. Folks who were just stretching the ol' bones after retiring here, in Johto's most isolated of all cities.

Most of them Simon and K.Rool can dance with without issue. For Junior though, it's been more of a struggle. He's really been having to 'punch up', even when I only field him against the weakest opponents I can find.

Just goes to reiterate the point I guess. Even in the 'Other' category, there's just not a lot of 'low level' trainers in this city. We might have better luck farming experience off of Geodudes in the wild.

I reclip Swinub's Pokéball to my waist and shake the old doctor's hand, thanking him for his time. No money changes hands as this was just a quick 1 vs. 1 and the Noctowl was the lowest level thing he had.

It's fine. Junior won some and he lost some over the last two days. A healthy win/loss ratio is good for his growth.

"Okay…what do you want?" I finally address the onlooker. An ornately dressed courier of some kind who had been patiently awaiting the match to end.

The slim man shuffles closer in his robe, performs a small little quarter-bow, and then hands off a very crisp expensive little greeting card.

'The Blackthorn Clan cordially invites you…' My eyes carefully scan over the letter, "In three days?!" I balk. "At six in the evening?" I heartily laugh as I hand it back to him. "No. No thank you. Please express my gratitude for the invite, but I'm good. Tell them if they wanted to ask me about 'you know what' -trust me they'll know what it means- then they should have come to see me themselves. If they wanna talk now, they're gonna have to track me down on their own time. I got my own schedule to keep."

The messenger's mouth hangs a little open at the rejection. I don't think this has ever happened to him before. People don't exactly…blow off…The Blackthorns. Especially not since Lance took the throne.

Funny.

Well, enough about that.

Time to start heading south. Places to be. Things to do.

---

Route 45

Shiny Graveler! Shiny Graveler! Holy shit, shiny Graveler!

Ma Ma pummels the poor Lv. 27 into the side of the mountain and admittedly I do feel a little bad about this whole thing.

Its orange-rust coloring camouflaged it magnificently with the sunset-hued cliff it had been napping alongside. I can only imagine how many trainers may have unwittingly strolled right past it. Dismissing it as just another chunk of arid sandstone.

That special boy can't hide from me though. Not with those three lines of magical text floating over his head. Kind of a dead giveaway, I'm sure you'd agree.

Ex-Snowboarder Brad. The bane of Pokémon Hide-and-Seekers everywhere.

More importantly, I must confess that this is a very special moment for me. This isn't just a shiny that I can auction off to the masses for a year's worth of grocery bills you see. 'And I do plan to get every Poké dollar's worth.'

It's revenge!

Let me take you back to one Christmas morning when I was but a wee little lad. The Google search engine has barely gotten off the ground, gasoline was a 'buck-fifty' a gallon -not that I knew that- and I have just unwrapped the newly released Pokémon Crystal. A game that I could not even play without first borrowing my brother's green Game Boy Color.

I don't know what springs to the forefront of the mind when an average fan reflects on their nostalgia of Generation II…but for me it's the Red Gyarados. Has there ever been a more iconic sprite in the handheld games? For some players it was the only shiny they ever saw. Others may have had to wait years or were playing entirely different generations before they encountered another.

Not me though. Nuh-uh.

For my second shiny I only had to wait about two hours.
A Graveler.

Which promptly self-destructed on its first turn and blew up in my face.

Child-me was running around in that patch of grass for hours in the aftermath.

I didn't know what the shiny odds were. Hell, I didn't even have an understanding of what a shiny Pokémon was. It being more than 20 years ago, I bet you couldn't even find the odds online. As referenced earlier, Google was the age of a toddler.

All I had was a foolish child's determination that if I stayed in that patch of grass long enough, if I ran back and forth long enough…then I would find that brownish-gold Graveler again and use him right next to my super-cool Red Gyarados.

Ma Ma deposits the unconscious Rock-type at my feet and claps the dust off her paws.

"You're gonna be worth a lot of money my friend."

I'd say that I'm sorry…but I'm really really not.

---

Dark Cave

Let's get a poll going. Which do you think is the more unimaginatively named? Kanto's "Rock Tunnel" or Johto's "Dark Cave"?
I swing my lantern around as something catches my eye in the periphery….hmm…probably just another Zubat.

'I could conceivably imagine a cave that isn't 'dark', but I have difficulty doing the same for a tunnel that is totally devoid of 'rocks'. Any natural tunnels at least. Man-made would potentially be a different story.' There's a splash in the distance. Some Magikarp or Goldeen making noise from the undermountain lake. 'I suppose that means Johto is ever so slightly in the lead for the 'descriptive' department doesn't it?'Wait- Does that mean they win or they lose with the poll? Let me start again-'

Ma Ma raises an arm to signal us to stop. Standard procedure every time we're traversing somewhere dark and spooky. Ursaring in the front, Gligar -correction, Gliscor- floating behind us in the back. We had to deviate a little bit from that process back when traversing the 'Ice Path' since Vlad couldn't stand the cold aura that place seemed to exude but this is generally how we do things.

Actually, we've technically improved the security recently since Simon is now in my shadow as well.

You can never be too safe.

"What is it Ma Ma?" The queen grizzly cranes her neck up, sniffing twice at the air before leading us off the main trail for a small detour beyond a corner. A little side path that's partially blocked off by a fence of stalagmites. Following her lead, I bring the light over to illuminate the shadowy nook and…yep.

I sigh out a disappointed breath. My expression immediately turning down.

That's a body.

I'm no forensics guy so I can't say how long he's been here. The cave's admittedly pretty chilly but I don't think that should have any significant preservation effect. Though then again, as I just said, I really don't have any idea what I'm talking about.

Except for the one obvious head wound -blunt trauma by the looks of it-, all his flesh is still intact. Cold and grey that it is.

He's dressed kind of like the "Super Nerd" archetype from the games. You remember those guys? Long black hair? Glasses? Half the time their party was always full of Magnemites or Grimers? You don't remember?

Sighing again, I very gently lifted one side of his jacket to get a look at his waistline and...yeah…it's a belt full of empty Pokéballs. No way to know if he released them himself right at the end or…if something else happened.

'Damn it. Aren't people supposed to regularly patrol for shit like this? Where's Russel? Some 'Doorman of Dark Cave' he turned out to be. No…no…I shouldn't think like that. People can't be everywhere.'

Backpack at his side is pretty well torn into. Signs of a wild Teddiursa probably digging into it. Although…looking a bit more closely, I think it may have already been looted beforehand. Stripped clean by someone who found him before us.

There's a busted TM case with only a single white disk left inside. One with a noticeable crack along its side making the thing worthless even for resale value.

No. 54: False Swipe.

Damn if there's not a morbid joke in there somewhere about that.

Well…not much we can do for him here. Best to just get back to civilization and file a report to the League about it. Hopefully the rangers will be able to figure out who he is and get him to the right place. If it were me, I know I wouldn't want to be left here. Not alone and in the dark.

Rising back to my feet, I mutter a simple prayer for the body and gesture for Ma Ma to lead us back to the main trail.

Should only be a few more hours until we're out of this dreary place and back in the sunlight. Which, if my team and I have been navigating correctly, should be the exit for Route 31 rather than 46.

A very bright and colorful place that's full of Black Apricorn trees, Hoppips coasting peacefully along a light breeze, and even enjoys the occasional Poliwag bouncing around in a pond.

A place with plenty of lighthearted memories.

And one very very bad one.

---

~A Tale of Two Trainers~
-A Children's Story, Final piece

Dominoes knock larger dominoes. Cascading failures rapidly accelerating to their final irrevocable end state.

"I'm telling you! Just trust me on this!" Ashley stands at the opposite end of their usual battleground in Route 31, her Victreebel already deployed and the two of them loosening themselves up in pre-battle stretches. "One good match to shake the fog loose and he'll be right as rain! You'll see!"

Eric seems less sure. Real worry on his face as he turns over the Net Ball in his hand. "What do you think Brad?" He offers the question my way. "You're better with this kind of stuff. You think he'll snap out of it?"

One hand rests idly over Nidorino's head as I shrug apologetically. "Don't ask me, man." I lift a berry from the bag next to me and hand it off to the Gligar at my shoulder. "You've known your Pokémon way longer than I have. Nurse Joy said he was physically fine. If there's something more going on, you're probably going to need to hunt down some sort of specialist."

"Okay…" Eric mutters with a frown, accepting the non-answer for the moment. "If this doesn't work then." he nods to himself, making a decision.

"Hellllooo, ladies, we're waiting over here." Ashley good naturedly teases from the other side of the field. "I'm telling you Eric, he'll be fine." she assures with a much softer voice. "So let's do this thing!"

Quagsire is deposited onto center field and Ashley jumps straight into action. "Alright! Let's get him warmed up by starting off easy Victreebel!" The exuberant girl punches her fist out. "Lower those defenses! Sap him with Acid!"

"Victreeee!

"Evade it Quagsire! Dodge left and go into Dig!"

Only the giant salamander Pokémon doesn't respond. It stands motionless in the field, letting the acidic spray wash over him with nary a flinch. Not a single outward reaction that the fight had even started.

Ashley and Victreebel…pause.

Even as a tiny Wooper in their very first battle so many years ago, their rival's never just…ignored…an order before. It just…it doesn't happen. Not to them.

The female trainer's brow furrows in concern while Eric nervously takes a half-step forward. "Quagsire…?"

The Water-type lazily lolls his head around to Victreebel's direction, black eyes soulless of any high functioning thought…

…and then he screams.

There were many firsts in the Indigo Region that day.

Grundy the Alpha Nidorino instinctively used Endure for the first and only time in its life.

Bradley learned what it was like to be on the receiving end of a panicked Gligar's use of Strength. A bruising terrible pain that broke his shoulder…but did also save his life by getting him off the ground.

And Violet City -who was the closest population center to where the incident occurred, an event which was attributed Two Stars on the League's disaster scale- learned what it means when a Champion level Pokémon somehow forgets the natural barriers that exist in its brain. The unconscious limiters that protect not just others, but itself. The biological safety nets we all possess and unknowingly rely on that prevent a living organism from unleashing everything it has in a single stroke.

…

…

In evenings to come, when his mood was somber and alcohol was swirling in his cup,

Bradley would attempt to name the move he witnessed that day.

Upheaval. Cataclysm. Magnitude 30.

Self-destruct-squared-but-its-Ground-type.

None of it seemed to come close.

---

A/N: Next update in a few hours. I just want to give it one last look over first.

---

Party Status:

Junior (Swinub): Lv. 17
Nature: Jolly
Potential: A-

K.Rool (Krokorok): Lv. 35
Nature: Impish
Potential: A-

Simon (Golett): Lv. 38
Nature: Docile
Potential: S

Vlad (Gliscor): Lv. 55
Nature: Adamant
Potential: A+

Ma Ma (Ursaring): Lv. 59
Nature: Serious
Potential: A

Grundy (Nidoking): Lv. 70
Nature: Bold
Potential: B

Quagsire: Lv. ??

 

[Drakebane]

So the secret of Quagsire is they forgot the limits on their power and destroy everything around. Including themselves and Quagsire apparently reached Champion level before this.

 

[LordVishnu]

Quagsire apparently reached Champion level before this

Click to shrink...

With one trainer solely focused on him for years and years I don't think that's too tall of a stretch. Especially since he was constantly fighting uphill against a 4x weakness.

 

[FTR2017]

So ... did the girl and her Victreebell survive the Quagsire?

Aside from that, gotta love the disrespect aimed the bird-tamers' way!

 

[LordVishnu]

So ... did the girl and her Victreebell survive the Quagsire?

Click to shrink...

No. If you refer back to Pryce's words from an earlier Chapter, Quagsire killed two people.

 

[1minus2]

I'm surprised the Quagsire didn't kill itself. Like, no barriers on self-harm should lead to self-harm...

I really liked that part about the shiny. Made me feel nostalgic. I assume it didn't have stats worth keeping? Shame.

 

[derkan]

I hope that the league learned the danger of the amnesia move

 

[LordVishnu]

I'm surprised the Quagsire didn't kill itself.

Click to shrink...

It did everything but.

That's why the Self-destruct-squared line is there. Instant full-health to needing life support.

 

[Xodarap]

Bradley would attempt to name the move he witnessed that day.

Upheaval. Cataclysm. Magnitude 30.

Self-destruct-squared-but-its-Ground-type.

None of it seemed to come close.

Click to shrink...

This was both better and worse than what I was expecting Quagsire to be like sure it destroyed a city in a monumental earth quake that was so high I'm surprised the continental shelf was still intact.
But at least Quagsire wasn't a malicious homicidal serial killer like pokemon.

 

[iceknight90]

Goddamn I wonder what in this story will be a bad enough situation that warrants Quagsire being deployed?

 

[Fossilhunter]

Goddamn I wonder what in this story will be a bad enough situation that warrants Quagsire being deployed?

Click to shrink...

Rampaging legendary?

 

[Qawsed]

Upheaval. Cataclysm. Magnitude 30.

Click to shrink...

....'World Break' would be a suitably ground-sounding ultimate attack

 

[FTR2017]

No. If you refer back to Pryce's words from an earlier Chapter, Quagsire killed two people.

Click to shrink...

I see, so it got the girl and Quagsire's former trainer despite gligar's save, then.

I'm kinda shocked that Bradley got a chance to ball the 'mon after all was said and done.

 

[ThunderBasilisk]

Freaking hell I wasn't expecting that kind of scenario to happen. I expected it to be bad but not forget it's limiters bad. And the shiny Graveler reminded me. Is Bradley gonna catch and actually use the Shiny Onix? I can't remember if that was ever discussed

 

[zharshoul]

It was in a deep unaware state perhaps, then panicked upon finally snapping out of it. So he got the quagsire after it killed its previous trainer?

 

[LordVishnu]

Is Bradley gonna catch and actually use the Shiny Onix? I can't remember if that was ever discussed

Click to shrink...

I have no plans at this time of putting the anime-only Crystal Onix into this story.

to be like sure it destroyed a city

Click to shrink...

Just for maximum clarity, while Violet felt the quake, it did not destroy the city as Bradley and company were all on Route 31 at the time. The Route did need the Rangers to come in and do repair work though. Many of the wild Pokemon populations were effected as well. This was all a year ago though. They've bounced back.

bad enough situation that warrants Quagsire being deployed?

Click to shrink...

*Lysandre and Cipher laugh in the distance*

 

[Detectivecain]

You know if this is gen 2 then the way shinys work is they have max IVs (or EV's don't remember which) is what determines if there shiny or not also a pokemons gender is determined by this as well so female pokemon are always weaker then the male ones, since in crystal the top 50% are male and the bottom 50% are female.

 

[Fossilhunter]

Freaking hell I wasn't expecting that kind of scenario to happen. I expected it to be bad but not forget it's limiters bad. And the shiny Graveler reminded me. Is Bradley gonna catch and actually use the Shiny Onix? I can't remember if that was ever discussed

Click to shrink...

are you talking about the one that appeared in the anime in 'Expedition to Onix Island!'? because if so then that one is in unova and i think the author already told us that he wouldn't travel to other regions any time soon and he already came back from unova anyway so if he would travel to another region it probably wouldn't be unova.

 

[ApiLol123123]

Upheaval. Cataclysm. Magnitude 30.

Self-destruct-squared-but-its-Ground-type.

Click to shrink...

I'm surprised he was allowed to keep the mon.. Thanks for the chapter!

 

[lusians]

Goddamn I wonder what in this story will be a bad enough situation that warrants Quagsire being deployed?

Click to shrink...

Hopefully nothing. As it stands he is a nuke and if you need to use a nuke shit is beyond FUBAR.

 

[LordVishnu]

Chapter 22

Violet City

Amazing the types of services you can find at Pokémon Centers these days.

With no 'wireless clubs', 'union rooms', or 'global trade whatevers' to clog the upper floors like in the games, I guess something had to come in and fill the vacuum.

I hand over Graveler's Pokéball -as well as the healthy amount of financial paperwork and legal documents that go along with it- and the receptionist accepts the stack with a smile. "Thank you sir." She offers a little bow. "The next League auction is scheduled for two Fridays from now, on the 17th. Please remember that if you wish to cancel your sale for any reason, we do require at least a 48 hour notice in advance or a 12 hour notice that comes with an auction withdrawal fee. Is there anything else I can assist you with today?"

"No thank you ma'am. That's everything." Turning back around to the escalator that leads down to the trainer-filled main lobby, I take a glance at my watch to see it's barely past 9:20, getting me to appreciatively hum at how fast we knocked that errand out. 'Damn, and here I was expecting this to take me all morning.'

Efficient bureaucracy. Will wonders never cease?

As the facilitators of these regional-wide auctions and all the Items/Eggs/Rare Pokémon that show up for sale within, the League does get a little slice of the pie whenever money changes hands this way. A not-great but not-terrible seven percent. Plus a trivial little base cost to actually register something up for public bid. Roughly the same amount it takes to buy a Burn Heal. It's not a worrisome dent to potential profits but neither is it wholly negligible. All in all, I just consider it the cost of doing business.

The Government has to pay its bills somehow. Do you want to take away the cost-free healing every Nurse Joy offers to whoever walks in the door?

Of course, one can choose to circumvent this whole process by seeking out a private buyer directly. I've definitely heard stories of people maximising their Poké dollars that way. But I mean…who even has time for that, am I right? I'd rather just hand it off and let the professionals handle it.

It's not like they're gonna aim for a bad price for the shiny. The higher they drive it, the more that seven percent is when they skim off the top.

Exiting the sliding doors and back into the sunlight of Violet City, I take in a big breath and smile at the unique fragrance the city always seems to have about it. A not unpleasant mixture of wildflowers and the fact that so many Pokémon around here have access to Sweet Scent.

It is…nostalgic.

Casting my eyes north, I can see the formidable 'Sprout Tower' hanging over the rest of the city's buildings in the distance.

Did you know it's so old that they've lost the records of when exactly it was built?

True story. I actually find it kind of funny.

If you venture in for a little tourist trip, the monks inside will tell you that 'According to Myth…' its central pillar actually comes from the stalk of an ancient humongous Bellsprout. One whose head would rise above even the tallest of trees. And while that's almost certainly, definitely, absolutely not true…ehh, who knows right?

In a world of Alpha Tentacruel large enough to knock over buildings, the Dynamaxing phenomena on the other side of the planet, and whatever the hell it was that was going on in that one episode of the anime I vaguely remember involving a giant Alakazam, Gengar, and Jigglypuff…why couldn't those monks have a kernel of truth in their words? Wouldn't be the most insane thing in this world, I'll attest to that.

On the opposite end of town lives Violet's other major call to tourism. Johto's #1 ranked Pokémon Academy. Now now, I know what you're thinking, but it's actually a rather useful place to sign up for some independent courses. It's not just 'type matchups' and 'Basics 101' for the kids. While I was staying here last year, I actually sat for a pretty nifty class talking about Pokémon nutrition and the long-term health effects of over-abusing Potion items. You can learn some cool stuff.

My smile dips a little at the memories the wave of nostalgia brings.

Eric's father was the one who taught that course.

For a moment…an errant thought tells me I should poke my head in. Just…to say 'hello', see how he's doing, that kind of thing.

Probably best to not though.

My thumb idly rolls over the surface of the Net Ball at my waist.

I doubt he wants to see me anymore.

---

Ruins of Alph, Public Area

I place the small rock back on the counter of the 'Gift Shop' -really more just of a vendor at a little stall- and sigh.

This place is somehow even more boring the second time around.

In the original release of 'Generation II', the Ruins of Alph received a fair bit of criticism for being so…empty. A lot of open space with very little game content to actually do. The 'Gold' and 'Silver' versions that came before 'Crystal' didn't even have the hidden chambers and their bonus items. Not that solving a puzzle to get a second copy of 'Mystic Water' actually awards you much.

When the remakes came out a little over a decade later, the developers somewhat addressed that. The bonus items were revamped, some sort of special event was added if you had an Arceus in your party -not that I ever did-, and most importantly the player gained the ability to farm 'breakable rocks' by constantly leaving and coming back.

You even had a 3% chance to find 'Old Amber'. The fossilized remains of an Aerodactyl. If that's not good added content, then I'm not sure what is.

Here in this world…none of that carries over.

Though in the interest of complete disclosure, I suppose I can't actually rule out the Arceus thing.

Everything that may have once been interesting about this place has been bagged, tagged, numbered and catalogued. The puzzle rooms? All solved. Any items within? All taken by scientists and research teams.

There's no patches of tall grass. There's no real fishing spots. Just one little building where the researchers work out of and a small previously mentioned 'Gift Shop' that sells tourist trap baubles.

The only thing that changes around here is a large scoreboard tracker for the last time someone actually encountered an Unown.

54 Days.

'I'm glad the secondary area is a lot more cut off here than it is in the handheld series. With the mountains cutting straight through, you'd never even know the other section exists unless you were told about it.'

---

Route 32

I tickle a finger under the wild Wooper's chin before shooing it off to go play with its siblings. Something it does with a little chirp and a bright mega-huge smile. "Yeah, I'm heading there now." My shoulder presses the phone closer to my ear. "Cause I've got some errands to run, that's why." I pause to listen to her retort and loose a single chuckle. "Oooo, harsh Lori. So mean. Can a man not have at least a little mystery about him?"

My eyes glance down to the side of the road where a TinyMushroom is growing and I snap my fingers twice, pointing it out to Vlad. With nary a comment he snips the thing off at its stalk and moves to place it in a bag.

Those things can sell for a good spot of pocket change you know.

"What?!" I speak confusedly into the cell. "Who told you that? No, I'm not hunting for an Onix. And if I were, there's better places to find one than Union Cave. I'm going for another reason."

Grass underneath my feet transitions into the creaky wooden steps of a fishing pier and with a loud roar Johto's Magnet Train zooms past on its monorail. "Well, I already said, I'm not telling you the reason." I tease. "If you're so curious, why don't you come down here and join me? You've got Psychics on your team, they could probably Teleport the distance. You could look into that 'Lapras in the basement' rumor again."

A fisherman with a Kingler at his side makes eye contact with me as I pass and…ohhh, I know that look.

He's bored out of his skull and is looking to liven the afternoon up with a battle. Hmmm…I suppose I can carve a little time out for that. It's never a bad feeling to win some money off a stranger.

I signal 'one moment' with a finger and begin to wrap up the call. "It is not a ridiculous rumor, Lori. The base floor connects to the ocean and you didn't even go on a Friday. I told you the rumor says you have to go on Friday." I pause again and then bark out a laugh at her next words. "Of course that part's important! Don't get mad at me just because you can't follow directions."

The fisherman raises an eyebrow at me and I hurry it along. "Okay. Okay. Listen…listen, I'm being challenged for a battle, I gotta go." I shuck off my backpack and start getting myself loose. "Okay. Alright. Talk to you later. Bye."

I click the phone shut and take in my opponent. The crab Pokémon at his side looks healthy, but its somewhat low level reveals it to be one of those unusual cases of a 'mon evolving exceptionally early. I wouldn't expect a typical Krabby to make the change without a good deal more experience under its belt.

"So, how do you wanna do this?" I ask. "Standard 3 vs. 3 or did you have something special in mind?"

---

Union Cave

As the main highway of travel between the traditional 'first' and 'second' Badges of Johto, Union Cave has an odd sort of paradox about it.

It is simultaneously the most traversed but also the least explored of Indigo's caves by the people who typically journey through it.

The top floor is an incredibly quick trip connecting Route 32 to Azalea Town. An uncharacteristically straight shot for when it comes to passing through a mountain, hence its name of 'Union'. Speaking very technically, Route 33 is also in that mix but it's so short these days that it really only exists as a formality to the cartographers. It has less square mileage to its name than the National Park up north in Goldenrod where they do the Bug-Catching Contest.

It had been larger in times long past of course but…then people went and built Azalea on top of it didn't they?

The urban sprawl of the humble town-not-quite-city isn't all that great in comparison to others but it's still encroaching eastward bit by bit every few years, shrinking the Route to be smaller and smaller.

'At some point they're just gonna have to 'call it' and say the rest of that land is part of Azalea as well. Hmm. I wonder if that means they'll have to rename all the Routes in thirty or forty years? Either that or we'll just start skipping the number '33' altogether on future maps.'

Sorry. I'm getting off topic. We were talking about Union Cave.

Due to the constant stream of young trainers always entering -fresh off their victories against Falkner- the entrance floor is actually remarkably well lit. Lamps and electrical wire zigzag all along the ceiling and there's always a few guides present to help keep the ten and eleven-year olds from straying off alone. For many of the children it's the first time they've ever been underground. You can get some nervous/scared kids if they aren't ready for it. Especially if today turns out to be the day they learn they get a little claustrophobic.

I flash my six badges to the simple guard the League keeps posted by the path downward and he gives me a simple nod. Really he cares more about my age rather than any accomplishments in battle I might have. He's really only here as extra insurance to make sure the first badge youngins don't wander somewhere they can't handle.

Not that they actually could get very far without a proper team to help them traverse. In the games you'll hit dead-ends pretty quickly unless you've already made it to Cianwood and picked up the HM for 'Surf'.

'You'd be surprised at just how many trainers never take the opportunity to circle back around here. Or how few realize there even are 'lower floors' to explore in the first place.'

Whether it was playing video games back on earth, running through a list of errands out in town, or going on a region-wide Pokémon journey…the average person just doesn't like 'backtracking.'

Their loss I suppose.

---

Ruins of Alph, Isolated Section

So...has Smeargle having different colored 'brushes' at the end of their tails always been a thing? Granted, as I've said so many times already, my knowledge of the cartoon series is pretty sketchy, so maybe it's from there but…I really could have sworn that wasn't a thing.

~Green brush, Blue brush,~
~Red brush, White brush~

Try saying that five times fast. Reminds me of a Dr. Seuss poem.

All four art doggos lie in a -'Don't say dogpile. Don't say dogpile'- lie in a heap. Each of the canines being thoroughly trounced by members of my team. 'Red tail' seems to be the leader of this little pack. He's level 22 whereas his fellow artistic peers are all at 20. In a fortuitous happenstance I stumbled upon the quartet painting the sides of a tree shortly after exiting Union Cave.

They then promptly scared the fuck out of me by all four using Future Sight simultaneously.

Thank llama-god above that their base stats are lower than a Hoothoot's. Otherwise that could've ended up really bad. No doubt these four have been interacting a little too much with the local Natu flock.

Inspecting the 'brushes' a little more closely…huh. It's not even paint. It looks more like some type of natural oil. A secretion of some kind. Actually, eww. That makes it sound gross. I wish I hadn't thought that.

'Well if nothing else, at least that helps explain while it's water-soluble. One of the only things that 'is' common knowledge about Smeargle in this world is that a good rainstorm will scrub all their graffiti clean.'

"Okay. Four specimens." I bring out some cheap Pokéballs and begin capturing the group one by one. "That should be plenty enough for the breeder in Hoenn. Baltoy and Trapinch, here we come..." 'Although….we 'did' just get here. No harm in looking around some more.'

Maybe if our good fortune holds we can find some with orange or purple or even some other colored tail? It'd be a pretty tall order to catch up in numbers to something like Vivillon –or god forbid Spinda- when it comes to variety in phenotypes but with a little luck we might reach a full artist's palette like Minior.

The far-less-public section of the Ruins of Alph is a sharp departure from the main area on the other side of the ridgeline. For one thing, the walls and glyphs here are significantly more ruin-like. As in broken down, less preserved, crumbling at the seams and covered in plant growth. I'm sure you get the idea.

Plus it's only about a quarter the size.

My hand traces over the deteriorated face of one of the walls and I try to make out its lettering.

'AZL GED SELA DESTA RIN'

Nope. This shit's straight gibberish, same as always. 'I wonder if they teach a course on it somewhere. Could be something to look into once we're in the off season after the Conference.'

As is my habit, a pulse of Ground energy exits my feet to map out the earth below us and as expected returns results of nothing but solid bedrock. Well, there is a small warren probably dug out by a Sandshrew long ago, but that's nothing new.

Vlad is floating nearby doing a little 'archeology' of his own. Cutting away some of the foliage blocking off a mural to look at the letters himself. He obviously can't read any of it either, but I can feel a sense of wonderment from him just by being here in front of it all.

I smile. I wonder if this is how parents feel when their child first goes to a museum or peers through a telesc- A sharp chime next to my ear gives me a jumpscare!

A single Unown shaped like a 'J' floats crookedly in the air, staring at me curiously.

Unown: Lv. 5
Nature: Brave
Potential: E+

"Oh…well hey there little dude." I put on a grin after recovering. "What's up? I didn't startle you with my aura use did I? "

A second chime comes from behind me in place of the 'J' answering. Turning around, there's now a second one joining the first. A letter 'S'.

Unown: Lv. 5
Nature: Hasty
Potential: E

I open my mouth to say something -couldn't even tell you what- but then two more suddenly show up. 'D' and 'L'.

Unown: Lv. 5
Nature: Serious
Potential: E-

Unown: Lv. 5
Nature: Naive
Potential D

'Okay. Let it not be said I ignore red flags when they appear. Time to bounce!' "Vlad! We should probably-" My announcement that we're leaving is cut off.

Because in one breath to the next there were suddenly hundreds.

A maelstrom of living letters surround me all glowing with Psychic power! An impenetrable tornado of black script. The walls, the tiles, everything everywhere is starting to shine with an outline of blue particle effects!

Including me.

"Gliscor! Gli!" Vlad's voice is panicked as he rushes forward to get me-

And that's when it felt like my entire body was being sucked through a straw.

---

Location Unknown, Deep Underground

…

…

…okay.

First rule when finding oneself teleported into a pitch black..uh..somewhere…is to remain calm and not freak out. Just...take stock of what we know.

…

…

Well, the air is breathable. That's something. It's stale and stuffy and kinda gross but it is breathable. We'll have to count that as a win. You don't always get so lucky when it comes to confined spaces.

…

…

Reaching down towards my belt, I unclip a small flashlight from its holster and flick it on to see…stone. Lots and lots of smoothed stone.

Walls. Ceiling. Floor. I'm in a structure of some kind. More Unown writing is framed in some type of mural behind me but like always, I haven't the foggiest of what it says.

…

…delightful.

I can confirm there is at least an exit to this room though. A long dark corridor that my flashlight can't fully pierce. An ominous pathway that leads to…well somewhere. Your guess is honestly as good as mine.

"Simon." At his call, the diminutive Ghost pops out of his Dusk Ball and tilts his head curiously around at our surroundings. "Gol?" With a small mental prodding from me he raises his fist up like a torch, summoning the flames of Fire Punch to dance over his palm.

A second source of light in an otherwise very dark dark world.

'!'

A ping on my psyche gets my neck to snap up. That was a faint - a very very faint- attempt by Vlad to try and locate me through our bond. Neither of us being Psychic-types though, the best we can manage for something like that is maybe half a mile. Perhaps a little less. The connection just gets too thin once we're past that.

Which means he's nearby. 'And also means we're still somewhere in the 'Ruins of Alph'. That's…good. That's really really good.'

Worst-case scenario avoided. We've confirmed that we're still in the Johto region. I didn't want to voice it, but there was a part of me that was terrified I had been halfway teleported to Sinnoh or something.

I do my best to signal back…just as simple a 'ping' I can do to say I'm safe…and thankfully after a moment he pings back slightly stronger. Signaling that he's at least moving in our direction.

That's potentially a lot of earth he'll have to dig through though…

A heavy breath leaves my throat as Simon and I begin our slow venture forward. Little baby steps into the darkness. 'This shit is so beyond my pay grade.' Isn't involuntary dungeon diving or temple raiding more the type of crap that Ash and his protagonist buddies are supposed to get up to? I may poke at the world or abuse my meta-knowledge for every nickel but that doesn't mean I actually want to get caught up in nonsense like this.

Then again, maybe this is just the universe's comeuppance against me for choosing to think like that. Or perhaps a warning for me to stop fucking with things I only halfway understand.

Peering into the various alcoves of the corridor I see that this place is…actually remarkably simple in design. None of these extra rooms actually go anywhere. Similarly to the place I first found myself in, they're all quite small and contain nothing but framed rectangles full of mysterious letters.

Some of them have some broken pottery scattered about in the corner. I guess that's different.

Ma Ma has been released as extra security -you never know when something might jump out at you- but throughout the entire walk I didn't so much as hear a sound beyond our own footsteps.

No fluttering Zubats. No mischievous Ghost-types. No scavenging rodents of any kind.

This place is deader than the proverbial door nail.

A fucking mausoleum.

My flashlight catches a raised step as we reach the end of the pathway and I see…stairs. A long stone pathed set of stairs that go up and up and up. Once again, my light isn't able to see the top.

It seems we're in the basement of…wherever this is.

"Alright gang," I whisper lowly to the golem and grizzly. "Let's see if we can find a way out of here."

It's a long trek upwards one step at a time. I can feel Ma Ma's consternation at the situation and it does bring a little levity to my mood. If she wasn't the one growling in irritation, then I would be.

My connection to Vlad above ground is slowly strengthening as we move so at least that's encouraging. He's moved towards us from the east but…that means we're somewhere west of where I caught the Smeargle and that doesn't make any sense.

There shouldn't be anything west of that location but thick tightly packed forest. The above ground section of the 'Ruins' don't extend that far. Which I suppose helps explain how this place isn't on any maps but I'm still going to complain about it.

The top of the stairs comes into view and suddenly….we are in a massive cavern.

A small number of long but ultra-thin cracks can be seen cutting across the rocky canopy above, letting a miniscule amount of sunlight to enter and help visibility. Two rows of eight pillars a piece -several of them broken- guide a pathway to a statue of a central figure.

A statue of…someone.

Okay. This time it's not my fault for being uneducated I swear. Everything above the knees for the royal figure is gone. Just…not there.

There's not even a pile of broken or destroyed rock next to the thing. Nothing I can use to piece together who this person was or what they may have looked like. All I can say for certain about the trunkless legs of stone is that the figure was probably male.

Ozymandias fans eat your heart out I guess.

At the base of the feet is a communion dish. A shallow but wide-brimmed plate not unlike what I would see in churches back home.

It's got at least half a hundred Relic Coins in it. All caked in an eon of dust. Silver, Copper, a couple Gold ones mixed in there too.

Well…

I mean…

Don't mind if I do.

Finders keepers am I right?

Another ping to my aura from Vlad has me look up and a large grey claw pierces through one of those thin cracks of sunlight! "Gliscor! Gli!" My best boy calls from above, suddenly peering down at us all from on high.

With a smile I pocket away my flashlight as true real sun illuminates this place for what has to be the first time in centuries and Simon starts jumping up and down in little cheers. "Gol! Gol!"

A grunt and tap on the shoulders from Ma Ma grabs my attention as she points out a rough worn path leading upward along the cave's right face wall-

And that's when I freeze ramrod still.

Half-buried next to the path to freedom, practically fused with the surrounding earth from untold -who even knows how many- decades or centuries, is the large roundish body of a Pokémon.

A quick fun fact for those at home regarding the way my cheat ability operates.

It doesn't work on dead things.

The moment a Furret bites down hard to snap a Ratatta's neck for its evening meal or a Pidgeotto pecks the guts out of a Caterpie, my power to see what level or nature they were/had simply blinks out.

It just vanishes from one microsecond to the next.

A corpse is simply a corpse. There's nothing extra that I can glean from it.

So while the Pokémon I'm looking at right now is…off, for lack of a better term. Inert. Lifeless. In hibernation. Whatever nomenclature you'd prefer to use.

It's definitely not dead.

Registeel: Lv. 60
Nature: Lonely
Potential: A

A lifetime of horror films have trained me that this is the moment where the killer robot will come to life. Seven red eyes will suddenly glow with an ominous light as it senses the intruders and the juggernaut will rouse itself from its long slumber to deal with the trespassers of its sanctum.

…

…

Only none of that happens.

…

…

Even as we approach, it just…lies there.

"Urs?" Ma Ma, never one to be properly cautious about anything, walks right up to the Sub-Legendary and begins gently tapping on its faceplate, trying to elicit some sort of reaction…only for the Steel-type to remain blissfully inactive.

Even the normally glowing three little red triangles on its hand are all dull and 'powered down'. "Ursaring?" she turns to me, a massive shrug on her shoulders.

"Gliscor! Gli!" Vlad swoops down from the forest floor above to get in on the inspection. "Gliscor!" he waddles closer on his small feet and begins miming a digging motion.

He's suggesting we dig it out? I mean…I guess we could but…since it's a Pokémon there's actually a quicker way to extricate it than bothering with all that.

…

…

I gently tap the red sphere against its head and watch the 'mon dissolve away into light.

One wiggle.

Two wiggle.

Three wiggle.

No resistance at all. Even Pokémon who've been KO'd in battle offer more.

…

…

As a final test I release the Regi once more into the open and for a moment it stands tall. A proud bulwark of impenetrability….before some natural imbalance kicks in and it faceplants right there on the stone floor. Wiry arms spilling lifelessly at its side.

…

…

Huh.

 

[King0fHearts]

So my guess the Unknown decided Registeel needed to get out of the fucking cave and out if it's century long depression.

 

[a guy1013]

so the mon is sleeping if i recall right you need specific pokemon to wake up the regis if i recall

 

[Hickity]

Let's get a poll going. Which do you think is the more unimaginatively named? Kanto's "Rock Tunnel" or Johto's "Dark Cave"?

Click to shrink...

Clearly it's Dark Cave. At least Rock Tunnel can be used as a joke, Dark Cave is more bland imo.

New chapter in a few hours is hype, glad to see the last of guagsire's past is revealed. Now we just need to see how such a mon will be used on the story, it's they're basically a WMD.

 

[The8BitzySpider]

Surely he keeps the registeel, right? I know he's a ground trainer and all, but I can't think of any rational reason for him to not use the registeel if he can figure out how to wake it up.

 

[Drakebane]

Registeel get. Now how to wake it up and make it battle. Probably involves Aura given that's what got the Unknown riled up.

 

[ChocoGod]

Okaaaay? WTF

 

[iceknight90]

Time to sell off Registeel for an absolute goddamn fortune to Steven Stone?

Then retire to a life by the pool of a mansion tended to by an assortment of high priced and exceptionally skilled hookers?

 

[Tarrant]

Random regi get.