After crying for a solid minute as his pokemon encircled him for comfort, Ethan finally let out a final shaky breath and wiped his eyes. Never had he thought that he was a weak person—mentally, at least—but this broke him. While not even comparable to something like war, as war was a different breed of stress and mental trauma, this was an actual life or death fight. Nothing in the world could have prepared for something like that. If the Steelix had even thought to attack him for a single moment, he would have died. Maybe it didn’t see him as a threat and disregarded him as irrelevant. Maybe Ursaring, who stalked forward to initiate the fight, had seen or noticed something that he hadn’t.
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
What wasn’t in question was said fainted thirty meter long Steelix sprawled limply across the cavern floor. The beast—No, the pokemon was truly gargantuan in a mind boggling way. Could a creature that size even function biologically? It must have weighed… an impossible amount, even if it was only a shell of metal that coated the pokemon.
Rhyperior had the spot for largest pokemon he’d seen for only a short few days.
As he stood, his pokemon shuffled away, worried and concerned. He was in no way, shape, or form ready to be an adult again, so he made the decision he should have made at the entrance. “Everyone, back into your balls. Smeargle, get me the fuck out of here and take me to Eterna City. Gloom needs the pokemon center.”
His pokemon lined up to be withdrawn. First was Snorlax who checked him over with his large hands before nodding to himself that Ethan was okay. Next, was Chatot who trilled sadly as she pecked him on the cheek. Pachirisu looked scared, both from fighting the pokemon that was literally a thousand times larger than himself, and for having been in the situation where he’d needed to fight for his trainer. He gave Pachirisu a hug before recalling him.
Ursaring… looked distraught. Her chest heaved with heavy breaths. Not from excretion, but from emotion. She looked guilty and was unsure on how she should feel. Ethan wasn’t the paramount of social interactions and behavior, he knew that, but he also knew his pokemon. He took a step towards her and she took a step back, almost fearful of his approach. He ignored her clumsy attempt to make distance and sped forward to give her a hug.
As Ursaring’s face contorted, arms hovering out to the side unsure if she deserved to hug him, he spoke. “I don’t know why you started that fight after we spent so long freeing Steelix.” He paused as she stilled. “But the pokemon here are not the same as the ones in the forest. While the forest has its own ecosystem of trials and tribulations… this cave is something else all together. All the pokemon here are probably just as strong, if not stronger.”
Ethan pulled back as he unclipped her Ultra ball, then looked her directly in the eye. Her eyes were wide and white, yet wet around the edges. His eyes were red and angry from tears, but his face was placid as he spoke. “I pray you didn’t start it because you thought I needed experience or that you wanted to test yourself… because if either of those are true, then I don’t think we can be partners anymore.”
As they stood there looking at one another, Smeargle shifted awkwardly. “Smear? Smeargle-gle Sme?”
Ursaring broke eye contact to look at Smeargle with a renewed determination. She shook her head. “Ursari-ri. Ursa-Ursaring.”
Ethan twisted to look at Smeargle. His painter caught his gaze and sent him a smile and a nod. He held up Ursaring’s ball and gave her a shaky smile. “I trust you, but I had to make sure. It didn't make much sense for you to throw yourself over me to save me only to start a fight once the hard work was done.”
That earned him a huff of sad agreement. Ethan recalled her then looked upon the Steelix. Smeargle joined his side and looked up at his face, as if asking what he was going to do. With another wipe of the eyes and a breath deep enough to take three seconds, Ethan cursed. “Can’t fucking leave it here can I?”
Smeargle looked at the Steelix, then back to Ethan… Then back to Steelix, and back to Ethan…Then nodded rapidly as if saying, “Of course you could!”
Ignoring what he felt like doing, which was to agree with Smeargle, Ethan pulled out one of his many pokeballs from his magic bag. With a baseball throw, he chucked it across the cavern until it bounced off Steelix’s large body. Thankfully, it was a target that was nearly impossible to miss.
ShakeShakeShakeDing!
It still took three shakes to catch an unconscious pokemon? Ethan thought idly as he walked forward to grab his prisoner. By no means would Ethan be keeping the Steelix. For one, it felt wrong to beat a pokemon to near death then enslave them. For two, they wouldn't get along. He would ask for it to be released into the cave once the emergency was over.
With the pokeball in one hand, he held the other one out to Smeargle. “Take us away.”
As Smeargle reached out to Teleport them to safety, he heard Ethan sadly murmur.
“I wanna go home…”
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the vibrations from the second quake finally settled down, Brock had some regrets about leaving Ethan Reed alone by himself. The amount of time he’d spent in caves could be counted in years instead of in days. The second and much longer quake that just wracked the cave had come from above, near where they’d left the mysterious Move Tutor and Breeder. It was a battle. He was sure of it.
“Do you think he’s alright?” Dawn spoke quietly, but her voice traveled through the room with ease.
“He’ll be fine. His Ursaring was strong, no?” Ash attempted to lighten the mood, but an ill feeling still sat in Brock’s gut.
“A strong pokemon does not guarantee safety in this cave, Ash.” Brock shook his head. “A strong trainer with experience helps… and I do not think Mr. Reed is very experienced.”
Dawn fidgeted, probably thinking that she herself fit into the same frame as Mr. Reed. He quickly continued. “He can Teleport away if in true danger, and we have experience on our side. Everything will be fine.”
He stood and pocketed his canteen, signalling the end to their short break. “Those ahead of us couldn’t have gotten far. Let’s continue.”
The deeper they ventured into the cave, the darker the surrounding stone became: From dirt brown, to a charcoal black. The slopes had gotten steeper, and the passageways between larger rooms had begun to split and fork off into random passages. It was also growing ever so slightly warmer, although it was still cold at the moment.
Since they’d left Mr. Reed, they luckily hadn’t run into any wild pokemon. The pokemon who called these sections of Wayward their home had either fled deeper to escape the quakes, or the cave was less populated than those around Pewter City. The main concern wasn’t the pokemon in the cave for Brock, though. His main concern was finding the others. The many splits in the path and no signs of previous travel didn’t bode well for their continued search and rescue.
Until the entrance was open once more, the trainers would be their main focus. There wasn’t much they could do to help any pokemon they found until it was reopened. At least, not without draining their already limited supplies.
As they approached yet another fork in the tunnel, Ash sent his Pikachu down one of the paths. Dawn sent her Pachirisu down the other as they settled in to wait for any news.
“So, what do you think is down here? Must be something special or strong, right?” Ash asked as they waited, his face dimly illuminated by their singular lightsource.
“Champion Cynthia gave us the list right? While she didn’t list Zubat or Golbat, I think those are a given for caves of any region.”
Brock cleared his throat and adopted his teaching tone. “That’s correct, Dawn. Zubat and Golbat are notorious for their nests in caves. I think they’re one of the only pokemon to have homes in every region. Zubat stay in caves for either their life, or until they evolve and grow eyes. Then, they venture out of their caves to explore.”
“What other pokemon do you think could need help down here?” Dawn asked, earning a contemplated hum from Brock.
“I’m not so sure. This is my first time in Sinnoh and our trek through that short tunnel towards Oreburg City wasn’t a great example. Many caves can have special pokemon that call the caves their home. Pewter City has some, yet I won’t tell you what they are.” He teased her.
Dawn groaned as Ash chuckled. Ash knew about the Clefairy and Clefable from Mt. Moon. Yet, it was a secret that should be kept a secret for as long as it could.
“♫ Pikachu! ♫” Pikachu’s cry from down its chosen tunnel. Shortly after, the pattering of small furry feet announced Dawn’s Pachirisu rejoining them to head off towards Pikachu.
Thirty seconds later, they all entered into a much smaller room with yet another four tunnels heading off in different directions. The walls themselves had many, many, many, holes etched into the walls—obviouslty made by some type of pokemon.
Pikachu’s butt was halfway out of one of the many holes as he inspected the inside. With a kick of his feet, Pikachu launched out of the hole, pulling out…
“Oh! A Diglett!” Dawn exclaimed as Pikachu tumbled out of the hole and onto his butt, moaning softly from the pain and disgrace.
The Diglett in question was perpendicular to the wall, annoyed at having been roused from its spot. “Diiiii… Dig-Dig-Diglett…”
Diglett were peaceful pokemon for the most part. In Kanto, there’s a small manmade tunnel leaving from Vermillion City to Pewter. The Diglett in the now famous Diglett cave had overtaken it and now call it their home.
At the sound of one of their companions, several—No, dozens of Diglett pulled themselves from their hidey-holes. Some were upside down on the ceiling, while others were on the ground or perpendicular like the first. There were even three Dugtrio, although they were notoriously difficult to spot, as they often looked like three Diglett close together. One by one, they called out their names. Within seconds, the cavern was full of exciting ‘Digs’.
Soon, their small forms began to surge around the cavern, moving in the peculiar way diglett’s did. Almost always, there was a small encircling ring of dirt or stone around their bodies. It was mesmerising when they moved without burrowing.
Some of them looked… thin; more noodle than stump.
These were pokemon that needed help, but what could they do with what they had?