Chapter Forty Five: A Tunnel Too Far
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Re: How to Conquer Kanto in Eight Easy Steps - Interlude Nine
Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up! There were several things weighing me down but I hope it was worth the wait
Chapter Forty Five: A Tunnel Too Far
After two weeks of peace, relaxation and time to think, Alaska knew it was all going to end horribly as they ventured into yet another Underground Path.
"Surely there is a path we could take that doesn't involve going into a cramped concrete hole, surrounded by darkness and who knows what else?" She growled as they descended the steps, the bright light of the world above quickly fading away to be replaced with a dim glow the colour of amber that appeared only sporadically.
"I told you, and we need to get you two to Celadon City undetected, and there are several investigations occurring in Saffron City that would make it risky to go through there at this present time," Trevor replied with an agitated growl, shooting a steely look at Alaska from over his shoulder. Alaska pulled a face as he walked ahead of them, but glanced to her right and saw Sandy was giving her a look that seemed to say 'Really?'
"What, I have every right to be worried!" Alaska hissed back. "Do you remember what happened last time we went into a tunnel? My leg has only just recovered!"
"So has my chest," Sandy said, a smile crossing her face, and Alaska couldn't help but smirk as well: the blonde had found a way to one-up Alaska, and she enjoyed dishing it out at every opportunity when Alaska began complaining.
Over the past fortnight, Alaska had been doing a lot of voicing her opinions, thoughts and questions aloud. Sandy and Trevor had been quick to recover due to the magic Charlotte had used to save them, so whenever Sandy wasn't asleep, Alaska would be waiting to discuss the many questions that puzzled her every day. She had brought Sandy up to speed on what Gideon was possibly planning, and the two friends quickly began speculating about what he was planning, as well as discussing the legendaries that followed them, Charlotte, the robots, the mysterious man in the shadows. Alaska kept what the fortune teller had said to herself though as she had no idea what any of it meant, and the cryptic messages of the dead rising would only cause worry rather than lead to any interesting discussions. She felt bad about hiding this, as Sandy seemed to be enjoying finally being in on the conversation and always suggested ridiculous ideas whenever they got bored (such as Gideon simply being an overly pedantic fossil collector or the robots secretly being Pokemon from the future that are really trying to warn them about the effects of global warming), but Alaska knew that telling her what the fortune teller said would only cause grief. She felt guilty enough about the role she had played in the blonde being shot, and Alaska didn't want to put her friend into any more damage than necessary.
The thoughts rushed back to her now, and Alaska shook her head and tried to think of something else as the pair followed behind Trevor and Daisy into the new Underground Path. This one seemed to be nicer than the previous one, with all the lights working even if they were flickering on and off, and they could see parts of the walls this time, slightly reassuring Alaska: if they could see most of the tunnel, there was less chance people would have to hide in the shadows.
"They had to rebuild this tunnel after an incident five years ago," Daisy explained, trying to break the silent tension that enveloped them all. "Half of the tunnel caved in, so they had to rebuild it, and it has managed to stay pretty much undamaged since then. The one from Cerulean to Vermilion was older and really needed to be fixed up."
"Well, they have the opportunity to do that now," Alaska growled to herself, though she stopped when Sandy shot her another look. "Everything seems to have happened five years ago… I really want to know who thought one day 'Hey, what if I go and blow up every destination in Kanto? That sounds like a smart idea! Now where's my dynamite?'"
"Did you ever watch the news when you were eight?" Daisy asked, glancing over at her. "It would have been all over there if you had looked! And don't you live in Viridian City anyway?"
"Yes," Alaska said in a dull and bitter tone, half because of the reminder she was constantly being watched, followed and basically stalked by these people, and half because of the reminder about what had happened to Viridian five years ago. The city liked to gloss over this dark event, mostly as no one had been killed, but a large chunk of Viridian had been destroyed in a large battle between what they had been told was a Pokemon battle between rival groups. It had seemed far fetched when she was eight, and Alaska had always wondered what had truly happened that had turned half her city to ashes. Her family had been away at a wedding at the time, so Alaska had not seen the fight herself, but the events over the past weeks had brought the thoughts back, and Alaska was starting to wonder just what had happened behind the scenes that had brought the terrible event on.
"When we get to Celadon, are you going to challenge Alexis?" Sandy said suddenly, and Alaska snapped back into her current setting, her mind coming back to her body. She glanced at her friend and saw Sandy was smiling softly but with a slightly sad eagerness in her eyes, trying to draw the conversation to happier discussions.
"Oh definitely!" Alaska said quickly, willing to do anything to please her friend. "A Grass type gym leader shouldn't be too much of a challenge: I have Flying, Bug and Poison types on my team, so Alexis should be pretty easy to defeat. I think having all this time to train will definitely play in my advantage as well."
"Looks like getting shot was a blessing in disguise!" Sandy said with a smile, and Alaska smiled in return, albeit weakly. "But yeah… all that training must have worked out! Frances is still making progress, isn't she?"
"She seems to be improving with every day," Alaska replied with a wide and sincere beam: every since evolving, Frances had been gaining more and more confidence. The Parasect still wasn't entirely comfortable, and occasionally tucked herself away under her giant mushroom, but Alaska was still impressed by what she pulled off. She had defeated both Sandy's Onix and Daisy's Sandslash with a single Solarbeam, and nearly outlasted Trevor's Vaporeon. There was still some fear behind her tough new exterior, and there had been one bad period when Daisy's Ditto mimicked Paige, and Frances reacted badly to being threatened by two Flying types, but her massive improvement had brought Alaska a necessary boost after the shocking face-off with Gideon.
But as the thought of this success came back to her, Alaska couldn't help but think of her large failure of the past fortnight. Despite everything she had tried to do, Darwin had only gotten worse. The Primeape frequently disobeyed her, using different attacks in battle and causing serious harm to the other Pokemon: a ThunderPunch assault left Daisy's Dewgong unable to battle for nearly an entire week, Sandy's Butterfree was sent crashing through a bench when she intervened a Karate Chop that would have obliterated Bellsprout, and the only Pokemon that could take him down was Trevor's grizzled Charizard. Alaska wanted to be there for Sandy during her recovery, and she wanted to celebrate Frances' success, and give Nadia more attention to grow, and spend more time with Paige, but Darwin was hogging all her time. The Primeape was proving a major hassle, and showed no signs of changing. Alaska tried teaching him new moves and tried to set up an obstacle course to give him a new challenge, but Darwin seemed to be pushing her away and getting angrier and more violent all the time. There had to be a solution, but Alaska hadn't found it yet, and it seemed unlikely that she was going to find it soon…
"Alaska, are you alright?" A voice said around her, sending a jolt through Alaska's mind.
"Wha? Yeah… I'm fine, honest!" Alaska said, snapping back into reality. She had kept moving without registering it, but now Alaska came to a stop as all three of her travelling companions had turned towards her and were looking confused at her obvious drifting off.
"Are you sure?" Daisy said, her brow narrowing as her face turned concerned. "It's not being underground again that's worrying you, is it? We can always stop if you want. It must be a shock walking so suddenly again after a two week break!"
"Actually, it feels good to walk properly again," Alaska said quickly. "I would rather keep on going: I am interested to see who our mysterious hosts are going to be." Daisy and Trevor both nodded and turned back around, and their minimal walking group carried on. Alaska gave Sandy a smile to reassure her, and wondered when they would be able to get out from within the tunnel. She felt suffocated, trapped inside here, surrounded by darkness and silence and with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Alaska couldn't help but feel awkward, walking alongside a friend that had been shot because of her and with two people guiding them to some unknown protector, unwilling to offer her any information that could actually help her. The trainer was desperate to find a way out, get to the Celadon Gym and face off for her fourth badge: that was all she truly wanted at the moment after going so long between battles, and if someone else got in her way, Alaska still had her brownies ready to force down their throats…
"We are nearly at the end of the tunnel," Trevor called out. "It will be a short walk towards Celadon, and I believe our hosts will meet us before we reach the city to ensure we get in without being seen and get in safely."
"Sounds like a plan," Alaska said. A plan I have no say in… She thought bitterly. It was strange being led away by a spy like this, and it was funny how this had all been arranged while Trevor was still bedridden and recovering. Alaska had started to wonder if there was a series of emergency plans in place to ensure her protection throughout Kanto, and though it should make her feel safe, it only made her feel more controlled than normal.
"My bag is shaking," Sandy said suddenly, and Alaska glanced at her and nodding, her thoughts making her drift off and not pay attention. "Seriously, something in my bag is mov- OH MY GOD, THE EGG!" Sandy screamed, her voice echoing, and Alaska paused as the blonde swung her bag around and nearly knocked Alaska's head off with the force. Trevor and Daisy paused as well and watched as Sandy unzipped her bag and pulled the mostly yellow egg out. It was shaking violently, with small beams of yellow light emitting from its core. Sandy's face lit up, her eyes bulging and jaw dropping, and she looked at Alaska with the same look Freddie wore whenever he got a new toy.
"It's hatching!" Sandy whispered, her voice shaking, and Alaska, Trevor and Daisy came in close as the egg shook in her hands. Alaska had never seen an egg hatch before, and was both tense and excited at the same time, Sandy's joy spreading through the dull and cold tunnel and washing away all her dark memories. The yellow glow was getting brighter and spreading throughout the entire egg, which was shaking as vigorously as if Sandy was channelling an earthquake into it.
"Do you know what Pokemon it is?" Daisy asked in awe, and Alaska turned towards her.
"Surge said it was going to be a –," Alaska began, but something caught her eye behind them, the yellow light illuminating the area around them. She froze and stared between Daisy and Trevor in silence, the sun-coloured glow highlighting a dark figure that stood behind them all, not moving, not speaking, not doing anything at all, simply standing there, and Alaska knew that the person was staring right back at her.
"It's him!" She hissed, and charged forwards, her right hand reaching into her pockets and grabbing the first PokeBall she could find. Alaska didn't care if she sent Darwin out and he destroyed everything around them: the mysterious figure that had been stalking her all this time was within her reaches, and she wouldn't let him escape.
"Alaska, what is it?" Daisy yelled behind her, but Alaska ignored her as she threw her PokeBall forwards. It burst open and the blue light briefly showed the silhouetted figure again, giving her a one second glimpse that reminded her of what Trevor had worn back in the Rock Tunnel, before Nadia landed before her.
"Poison Sting!" Alaska yelled, not even stopping for a moment to think as rage and her burning desire for answers flowed through.
"RAN RAN!" Nadia yelled, looking confused but firing the purple stings forwards anyway. A swish of black cloak appeared within the surrounding light, and Alaska quickly made after it, blindly chasing after the mysterious man.
"Keep going Nadia, try and keep him trapped!" Alaska shouted as she reached inside her bag for the nearest weapon: with a great heave, she pulled out the knife that had been given to cut the brownies, and she began wildly brandishing it within the darkness, wondering if she would hit something.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING ALASKA?" Trevor roared behind her.
"This creep has been stalking me since Viridian Forest, and I want to know exactly who he is and what he is up to!" Alaska shouted back, leaping backwards as a Poison Sting exploded in front of her. "Nadia, try using Skull Bash!" There was a sudden swishing, and Alaska turned around to see a dark figure had appeared behind her as quickly as if he had teleported. She raised the knife, but the person struck her down with a sharp jab to elbow that send shudders through her nerves, and than sent her sprawling to the ground beside Nadia with a kick to the legs.
"FREEZE!" Trevor shouted, and Alaska saw he had his gun back in his hands, while Daisy had leapt in front of Sandy for protection. The figure glanced across at Trevor before leaping backwards, throwing something up as he moved. There was a bang that sounded ten times as loud in the enclosed confides of the tunnel, but the bullet harmlessly moved past the spinning PokeBall as it burst open. Alaska groaned as she sat up, but had to in order to scuttle away from the red energy forming before her. A Pokemon about twice her height formed and about the width and weight of ten Alaska's. The beast had a sweeping long tail that was topped with a brown boulder, and its head was adorned with two sharp horns. The Pokemon roared and beat his chest with his gigantic, tree trunk arms, and Alaska instinctively grabbed Nadia for protection.
"Alaska Acevedo, this is not how a lady should treat her saviours," the same robotic she had heard before hissed. "I am here to save you from the threats that are constantly around you, and to try and pull you out from this cycle of destruction that will only destroy your life. You think I am some sort of foe, but you are willing travelling with two people you barely know into a city that you will not get out of alive if your true enemies know you are there. I saved you at Viridian Forest and I saved you at the last Underground Path, yet you still do not trust me?" Alaska froze, stunned by the words: she knew the person had saved her, but did they mean she should trust them? The frightening Pokemon she presumed was a Rhyperior was looming over her, and the image didn't exactly fill her mind with ease. But what if this person had the answers she wanted, or knew a safer place to go, or had a magical solution to stop this nightmare ride…
"I demand you tell us your name right now or face the consequences!" Trevor yelled, his gun pointed towards the shadows where the figure had disappeared. "You are interfering with issues to do with the International Police, so unless you are willing to properly help us, you must leave or face arrest!" The robotic voice laughed to the side, and the Rhyperior laughed as well, though it was far more intimidating,
"I am sorry you did not make you mind up sooner Alaska, but I shall give you another option sooner," the robotic voice said deeply, and Alaska nervously clutched Nadia, wondering what would happen. "However, I am not going to reveal myself to you, nor will I allow myself to be captured. Just me when I say I hope you all make it out alive." Alaska froze in shock, wondering what this could possibly mean, but then her eyes glanced towards the Rhyperior and knew in a second that there was a reason why it had been sent out…
"RUN!" She yelled, at the exact moment that the … Pokemon let out an ear splitting roar. Alaska leapt to her feet and hugged Nadia close to her chest, and quickly signalled for the others to follow. She had forgotten about Sandy and her egg, and was shocked as Daisy led Sandy away from Trevor with something clutched close to her chest. Trevor fired his gun at the Rock-Ground type, but Rhyperior simply let out a roar, the bullets easily bouncing off him, and he raised his hands above his head. Alaska watched in shock as rocks began to form in his palms, energy flowing through them, and the horned Pokemon brought both arms together, the rocks moulding together.
"GO ALASKA, MOVE!" Daisy suddenly screamed in her ear, giving her a shove forwards. Alaska began moving, but her eyes were transfixed on the slowly growing boulder in Rhyperior's hands, and her mind could only think of what was going to happen next.
"RHYYYYY-PEEEEEER-IIIII-OOOOOOOR!" Rhyperior roared, and the rock, now twice the size of his head, was blasted upwards with a blast of red energy. It flew right up towards a light, which instantly shattered and plunged the beast and Trevor into darkness. Alaska caught Daisy looking back, and the scientist came to a pause for a single second, enough time for her to register what would happen to her partner. Alaska realised in that moment that she should have connected the glaring bond the two much older people had, and felt silly and immature for not noticing their relationship before… but than she felt silly and immature for getting them into this mess. Nadia was quivering in her hands, and Alaska could see Sandy was crying, something small, shivering and yellow huddled up in her arms: she had just been in hospital, she shouldn't be going through this…
But just as the trio froze, wondering what was happening, that was when the world began to shake.
"THE ROOF!" Daisy yelled, snapping back into her role as their protector, and she shoved Alaska and Sandy onwards towards the stairs. However, it was hard to run when the entire tunnel was shaking, and dust was falling from the roof. The light bulbs above them began to shatter, but Alaska glanced up in time to see large crack appearing above them, a central line streaming along the centre like a sweeping river, the others tributaries that only added to the chaos. The group sprinted quickly in the growing darkness, a dim outline of the stairs appearing ahead. Rhyperior roared in the background, and Alaska looked behind to see a flash of something red and desperately hoped Trevor survived, more for a prediction of guilt than a bond for the mysterious man.
Her feet hit the bottom stair and Alaska nearly fell forwards, making Nadia yell, but regained her balance by the time Sandy and Daisy had rushed past. There were more rumblings and the sounds of things cracking, and Alaska looked behind to see a veil of dust engulfing the tunnel, only a few flickers of dark yellow showing the haze.
"I am sorry Nadia, I never should have put you in this position… again," Alaska cried as she ran up the stairs, seeing the entrance building above was shaking and cracking as well. Alaska shut her eyes against the stream of dust that was chasing after her, and she thought back to everything that had happened to her: she had been so worried thinking about if she ahd caused Sandy to get shot, but she had never thought about what role she had played in all the other events: the fight with Chloe, mocking Sandy and sending her onto that bridge, trying to fight the ElectrodeBot, going to Pewter Museum… maybe she would never have put herself in any of this situations if she had simply minded her own business…
There was a loud snap right above her, and without even wasting time to look up Alaska ducked down to the ground, not even sure where her body was but focussing more on safety. Nadia squirmed in her arms, and Alaska felt terrible for the journey she had made the poor Pokemon endure. But all her thoughts and worries left her as the falling concrete she had anticipated crashed down against her, and Alaska continued to hold on tight as a roar filled her ears and pain spread through her body: she had sabotaged her own journey and let it be consumed, but nothing would stop her from putting her Pokemon through further harm...
The Celadon Arc continues after the next Galactic, so expect a bit of a delay but I will try and get this shorter chapter done faster. This arc will be a bit different, especially as it will be returning to more grounded action, and expect a bit of a shocking twist and some new issues for Alaska to overcome as she worries and plans. There will be a new gym leader, but for a look into who it is, I'd suggest looking over at 'Left Behind' to see some characters that will play a role in the new arc. Until next time, farewell, and I enjoyed reading all your theories: feel free to add any new thoughts in about our mysterious shadowed friend!
Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up! There were several things weighing me down but I hope it was worth the wait
Chapter Forty Five: A Tunnel Too Far
After two weeks of peace, relaxation and time to think, Alaska knew it was all going to end horribly as they ventured into yet another Underground Path.
"Surely there is a path we could take that doesn't involve going into a cramped concrete hole, surrounded by darkness and who knows what else?" She growled as they descended the steps, the bright light of the world above quickly fading away to be replaced with a dim glow the colour of amber that appeared only sporadically.
"I told you, and we need to get you two to Celadon City undetected, and there are several investigations occurring in Saffron City that would make it risky to go through there at this present time," Trevor replied with an agitated growl, shooting a steely look at Alaska from over his shoulder. Alaska pulled a face as he walked ahead of them, but glanced to her right and saw Sandy was giving her a look that seemed to say 'Really?'
"What, I have every right to be worried!" Alaska hissed back. "Do you remember what happened last time we went into a tunnel? My leg has only just recovered!"
"So has my chest," Sandy said, a smile crossing her face, and Alaska couldn't help but smirk as well: the blonde had found a way to one-up Alaska, and she enjoyed dishing it out at every opportunity when Alaska began complaining.
Over the past fortnight, Alaska had been doing a lot of voicing her opinions, thoughts and questions aloud. Sandy and Trevor had been quick to recover due to the magic Charlotte had used to save them, so whenever Sandy wasn't asleep, Alaska would be waiting to discuss the many questions that puzzled her every day. She had brought Sandy up to speed on what Gideon was possibly planning, and the two friends quickly began speculating about what he was planning, as well as discussing the legendaries that followed them, Charlotte, the robots, the mysterious man in the shadows. Alaska kept what the fortune teller had said to herself though as she had no idea what any of it meant, and the cryptic messages of the dead rising would only cause worry rather than lead to any interesting discussions. She felt bad about hiding this, as Sandy seemed to be enjoying finally being in on the conversation and always suggested ridiculous ideas whenever they got bored (such as Gideon simply being an overly pedantic fossil collector or the robots secretly being Pokemon from the future that are really trying to warn them about the effects of global warming), but Alaska knew that telling her what the fortune teller said would only cause grief. She felt guilty enough about the role she had played in the blonde being shot, and Alaska didn't want to put her friend into any more damage than necessary.
The thoughts rushed back to her now, and Alaska shook her head and tried to think of something else as the pair followed behind Trevor and Daisy into the new Underground Path. This one seemed to be nicer than the previous one, with all the lights working even if they were flickering on and off, and they could see parts of the walls this time, slightly reassuring Alaska: if they could see most of the tunnel, there was less chance people would have to hide in the shadows.
"They had to rebuild this tunnel after an incident five years ago," Daisy explained, trying to break the silent tension that enveloped them all. "Half of the tunnel caved in, so they had to rebuild it, and it has managed to stay pretty much undamaged since then. The one from Cerulean to Vermilion was older and really needed to be fixed up."
"Well, they have the opportunity to do that now," Alaska growled to herself, though she stopped when Sandy shot her another look. "Everything seems to have happened five years ago… I really want to know who thought one day 'Hey, what if I go and blow up every destination in Kanto? That sounds like a smart idea! Now where's my dynamite?'"
"Did you ever watch the news when you were eight?" Daisy asked, glancing over at her. "It would have been all over there if you had looked! And don't you live in Viridian City anyway?"
"Yes," Alaska said in a dull and bitter tone, half because of the reminder she was constantly being watched, followed and basically stalked by these people, and half because of the reminder about what had happened to Viridian five years ago. The city liked to gloss over this dark event, mostly as no one had been killed, but a large chunk of Viridian had been destroyed in a large battle between what they had been told was a Pokemon battle between rival groups. It had seemed far fetched when she was eight, and Alaska had always wondered what had truly happened that had turned half her city to ashes. Her family had been away at a wedding at the time, so Alaska had not seen the fight herself, but the events over the past weeks had brought the thoughts back, and Alaska was starting to wonder just what had happened behind the scenes that had brought the terrible event on.
"When we get to Celadon, are you going to challenge Alexis?" Sandy said suddenly, and Alaska snapped back into her current setting, her mind coming back to her body. She glanced at her friend and saw Sandy was smiling softly but with a slightly sad eagerness in her eyes, trying to draw the conversation to happier discussions.
"Oh definitely!" Alaska said quickly, willing to do anything to please her friend. "A Grass type gym leader shouldn't be too much of a challenge: I have Flying, Bug and Poison types on my team, so Alexis should be pretty easy to defeat. I think having all this time to train will definitely play in my advantage as well."
"Looks like getting shot was a blessing in disguise!" Sandy said with a smile, and Alaska smiled in return, albeit weakly. "But yeah… all that training must have worked out! Frances is still making progress, isn't she?"
"She seems to be improving with every day," Alaska replied with a wide and sincere beam: every since evolving, Frances had been gaining more and more confidence. The Parasect still wasn't entirely comfortable, and occasionally tucked herself away under her giant mushroom, but Alaska was still impressed by what she pulled off. She had defeated both Sandy's Onix and Daisy's Sandslash with a single Solarbeam, and nearly outlasted Trevor's Vaporeon. There was still some fear behind her tough new exterior, and there had been one bad period when Daisy's Ditto mimicked Paige, and Frances reacted badly to being threatened by two Flying types, but her massive improvement had brought Alaska a necessary boost after the shocking face-off with Gideon.
But as the thought of this success came back to her, Alaska couldn't help but think of her large failure of the past fortnight. Despite everything she had tried to do, Darwin had only gotten worse. The Primeape frequently disobeyed her, using different attacks in battle and causing serious harm to the other Pokemon: a ThunderPunch assault left Daisy's Dewgong unable to battle for nearly an entire week, Sandy's Butterfree was sent crashing through a bench when she intervened a Karate Chop that would have obliterated Bellsprout, and the only Pokemon that could take him down was Trevor's grizzled Charizard. Alaska wanted to be there for Sandy during her recovery, and she wanted to celebrate Frances' success, and give Nadia more attention to grow, and spend more time with Paige, but Darwin was hogging all her time. The Primeape was proving a major hassle, and showed no signs of changing. Alaska tried teaching him new moves and tried to set up an obstacle course to give him a new challenge, but Darwin seemed to be pushing her away and getting angrier and more violent all the time. There had to be a solution, but Alaska hadn't found it yet, and it seemed unlikely that she was going to find it soon…
"Alaska, are you alright?" A voice said around her, sending a jolt through Alaska's mind.
"Wha? Yeah… I'm fine, honest!" Alaska said, snapping back into reality. She had kept moving without registering it, but now Alaska came to a stop as all three of her travelling companions had turned towards her and were looking confused at her obvious drifting off.
"Are you sure?" Daisy said, her brow narrowing as her face turned concerned. "It's not being underground again that's worrying you, is it? We can always stop if you want. It must be a shock walking so suddenly again after a two week break!"
"Actually, it feels good to walk properly again," Alaska said quickly. "I would rather keep on going: I am interested to see who our mysterious hosts are going to be." Daisy and Trevor both nodded and turned back around, and their minimal walking group carried on. Alaska gave Sandy a smile to reassure her, and wondered when they would be able to get out from within the tunnel. She felt suffocated, trapped inside here, surrounded by darkness and silence and with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Alaska couldn't help but feel awkward, walking alongside a friend that had been shot because of her and with two people guiding them to some unknown protector, unwilling to offer her any information that could actually help her. The trainer was desperate to find a way out, get to the Celadon Gym and face off for her fourth badge: that was all she truly wanted at the moment after going so long between battles, and if someone else got in her way, Alaska still had her brownies ready to force down their throats…
"We are nearly at the end of the tunnel," Trevor called out. "It will be a short walk towards Celadon, and I believe our hosts will meet us before we reach the city to ensure we get in without being seen and get in safely."
"Sounds like a plan," Alaska said. A plan I have no say in… She thought bitterly. It was strange being led away by a spy like this, and it was funny how this had all been arranged while Trevor was still bedridden and recovering. Alaska had started to wonder if there was a series of emergency plans in place to ensure her protection throughout Kanto, and though it should make her feel safe, it only made her feel more controlled than normal.
"My bag is shaking," Sandy said suddenly, and Alaska glanced at her and nodding, her thoughts making her drift off and not pay attention. "Seriously, something in my bag is mov- OH MY GOD, THE EGG!" Sandy screamed, her voice echoing, and Alaska paused as the blonde swung her bag around and nearly knocked Alaska's head off with the force. Trevor and Daisy paused as well and watched as Sandy unzipped her bag and pulled the mostly yellow egg out. It was shaking violently, with small beams of yellow light emitting from its core. Sandy's face lit up, her eyes bulging and jaw dropping, and she looked at Alaska with the same look Freddie wore whenever he got a new toy.
"It's hatching!" Sandy whispered, her voice shaking, and Alaska, Trevor and Daisy came in close as the egg shook in her hands. Alaska had never seen an egg hatch before, and was both tense and excited at the same time, Sandy's joy spreading through the dull and cold tunnel and washing away all her dark memories. The yellow glow was getting brighter and spreading throughout the entire egg, which was shaking as vigorously as if Sandy was channelling an earthquake into it.
"Do you know what Pokemon it is?" Daisy asked in awe, and Alaska turned towards her.
"Surge said it was going to be a –," Alaska began, but something caught her eye behind them, the yellow light illuminating the area around them. She froze and stared between Daisy and Trevor in silence, the sun-coloured glow highlighting a dark figure that stood behind them all, not moving, not speaking, not doing anything at all, simply standing there, and Alaska knew that the person was staring right back at her.
"It's him!" She hissed, and charged forwards, her right hand reaching into her pockets and grabbing the first PokeBall she could find. Alaska didn't care if she sent Darwin out and he destroyed everything around them: the mysterious figure that had been stalking her all this time was within her reaches, and she wouldn't let him escape.
"Alaska, what is it?" Daisy yelled behind her, but Alaska ignored her as she threw her PokeBall forwards. It burst open and the blue light briefly showed the silhouetted figure again, giving her a one second glimpse that reminded her of what Trevor had worn back in the Rock Tunnel, before Nadia landed before her.
"Poison Sting!" Alaska yelled, not even stopping for a moment to think as rage and her burning desire for answers flowed through.
"RAN RAN!" Nadia yelled, looking confused but firing the purple stings forwards anyway. A swish of black cloak appeared within the surrounding light, and Alaska quickly made after it, blindly chasing after the mysterious man.
"Keep going Nadia, try and keep him trapped!" Alaska shouted as she reached inside her bag for the nearest weapon: with a great heave, she pulled out the knife that had been given to cut the brownies, and she began wildly brandishing it within the darkness, wondering if she would hit something.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING ALASKA?" Trevor roared behind her.
"This creep has been stalking me since Viridian Forest, and I want to know exactly who he is and what he is up to!" Alaska shouted back, leaping backwards as a Poison Sting exploded in front of her. "Nadia, try using Skull Bash!" There was a sudden swishing, and Alaska turned around to see a dark figure had appeared behind her as quickly as if he had teleported. She raised the knife, but the person struck her down with a sharp jab to elbow that send shudders through her nerves, and than sent her sprawling to the ground beside Nadia with a kick to the legs.
"FREEZE!" Trevor shouted, and Alaska saw he had his gun back in his hands, while Daisy had leapt in front of Sandy for protection. The figure glanced across at Trevor before leaping backwards, throwing something up as he moved. There was a bang that sounded ten times as loud in the enclosed confides of the tunnel, but the bullet harmlessly moved past the spinning PokeBall as it burst open. Alaska groaned as she sat up, but had to in order to scuttle away from the red energy forming before her. A Pokemon about twice her height formed and about the width and weight of ten Alaska's. The beast had a sweeping long tail that was topped with a brown boulder, and its head was adorned with two sharp horns. The Pokemon roared and beat his chest with his gigantic, tree trunk arms, and Alaska instinctively grabbed Nadia for protection.
"Alaska Acevedo, this is not how a lady should treat her saviours," the same robotic she had heard before hissed. "I am here to save you from the threats that are constantly around you, and to try and pull you out from this cycle of destruction that will only destroy your life. You think I am some sort of foe, but you are willing travelling with two people you barely know into a city that you will not get out of alive if your true enemies know you are there. I saved you at Viridian Forest and I saved you at the last Underground Path, yet you still do not trust me?" Alaska froze, stunned by the words: she knew the person had saved her, but did they mean she should trust them? The frightening Pokemon she presumed was a Rhyperior was looming over her, and the image didn't exactly fill her mind with ease. But what if this person had the answers she wanted, or knew a safer place to go, or had a magical solution to stop this nightmare ride…
"I demand you tell us your name right now or face the consequences!" Trevor yelled, his gun pointed towards the shadows where the figure had disappeared. "You are interfering with issues to do with the International Police, so unless you are willing to properly help us, you must leave or face arrest!" The robotic voice laughed to the side, and the Rhyperior laughed as well, though it was far more intimidating,
"I am sorry you did not make you mind up sooner Alaska, but I shall give you another option sooner," the robotic voice said deeply, and Alaska nervously clutched Nadia, wondering what would happen. "However, I am not going to reveal myself to you, nor will I allow myself to be captured. Just me when I say I hope you all make it out alive." Alaska froze in shock, wondering what this could possibly mean, but then her eyes glanced towards the Rhyperior and knew in a second that there was a reason why it had been sent out…
"RUN!" She yelled, at the exact moment that the … Pokemon let out an ear splitting roar. Alaska leapt to her feet and hugged Nadia close to her chest, and quickly signalled for the others to follow. She had forgotten about Sandy and her egg, and was shocked as Daisy led Sandy away from Trevor with something clutched close to her chest. Trevor fired his gun at the Rock-Ground type, but Rhyperior simply let out a roar, the bullets easily bouncing off him, and he raised his hands above his head. Alaska watched in shock as rocks began to form in his palms, energy flowing through them, and the horned Pokemon brought both arms together, the rocks moulding together.
"GO ALASKA, MOVE!" Daisy suddenly screamed in her ear, giving her a shove forwards. Alaska began moving, but her eyes were transfixed on the slowly growing boulder in Rhyperior's hands, and her mind could only think of what was going to happen next.
"RHYYYYY-PEEEEEER-IIIII-OOOOOOOR!" Rhyperior roared, and the rock, now twice the size of his head, was blasted upwards with a blast of red energy. It flew right up towards a light, which instantly shattered and plunged the beast and Trevor into darkness. Alaska caught Daisy looking back, and the scientist came to a pause for a single second, enough time for her to register what would happen to her partner. Alaska realised in that moment that she should have connected the glaring bond the two much older people had, and felt silly and immature for not noticing their relationship before… but than she felt silly and immature for getting them into this mess. Nadia was quivering in her hands, and Alaska could see Sandy was crying, something small, shivering and yellow huddled up in her arms: she had just been in hospital, she shouldn't be going through this…
But just as the trio froze, wondering what was happening, that was when the world began to shake.
"THE ROOF!" Daisy yelled, snapping back into her role as their protector, and she shoved Alaska and Sandy onwards towards the stairs. However, it was hard to run when the entire tunnel was shaking, and dust was falling from the roof. The light bulbs above them began to shatter, but Alaska glanced up in time to see large crack appearing above them, a central line streaming along the centre like a sweeping river, the others tributaries that only added to the chaos. The group sprinted quickly in the growing darkness, a dim outline of the stairs appearing ahead. Rhyperior roared in the background, and Alaska looked behind to see a flash of something red and desperately hoped Trevor survived, more for a prediction of guilt than a bond for the mysterious man.
Her feet hit the bottom stair and Alaska nearly fell forwards, making Nadia yell, but regained her balance by the time Sandy and Daisy had rushed past. There were more rumblings and the sounds of things cracking, and Alaska looked behind to see a veil of dust engulfing the tunnel, only a few flickers of dark yellow showing the haze.
"I am sorry Nadia, I never should have put you in this position… again," Alaska cried as she ran up the stairs, seeing the entrance building above was shaking and cracking as well. Alaska shut her eyes against the stream of dust that was chasing after her, and she thought back to everything that had happened to her: she had been so worried thinking about if she ahd caused Sandy to get shot, but she had never thought about what role she had played in all the other events: the fight with Chloe, mocking Sandy and sending her onto that bridge, trying to fight the ElectrodeBot, going to Pewter Museum… maybe she would never have put herself in any of this situations if she had simply minded her own business…
There was a loud snap right above her, and without even wasting time to look up Alaska ducked down to the ground, not even sure where her body was but focussing more on safety. Nadia squirmed in her arms, and Alaska felt terrible for the journey she had made the poor Pokemon endure. But all her thoughts and worries left her as the falling concrete she had anticipated crashed down against her, and Alaska continued to hold on tight as a roar filled her ears and pain spread through her body: she had sabotaged her own journey and let it be consumed, but nothing would stop her from putting her Pokemon through further harm...
The Celadon Arc continues after the next Galactic, so expect a bit of a delay but I will try and get this shorter chapter done faster. This arc will be a bit different, especially as it will be returning to more grounded action, and expect a bit of a shocking twist and some new issues for Alaska to overcome as she worries and plans. There will be a new gym leader, but for a look into who it is, I'd suggest looking over at 'Left Behind' to see some characters that will play a role in the new arc. Until next time, farewell, and I enjoyed reading all your theories: feel free to add any new thoughts in about our mysterious shadowed friend!