Chapter 3: Beneath the Dark Side of the Moon

The forest outside of Pewter City was thick with pine trees and a few cottonwoods. The drastic terrain of the region meant that only certain plants could survive. Igneous rocks and formations made the north eastern part of Kanto a rough area. Rivers through the area create drastic vertical cliffs with colorful displays of chemically stained rock. Mount Moon is considered the eastern end of the Silver Range that spanned both Kanto and Johto. Kanto is mostly a volcanic area, with ancient lava flows and deposits from Mount Silver along the western edge of the region.

Such drastic topography is be noticed when seen from high elevations. East of Mount Moon, the geography begins to level out, closer to the ocean edge of the Kanto region. If someone from Pewter were to dig straight down, it would take two feet of digging before they hit the hard igneous rock that the city is built upon. Someone digging in Lavender would have to go over 50 feet before they hit any volcanic bedrock. Millions of years of erosion had caused the formation of the flatlands. The silica-rich deposits that are found around Kanto can be traced back to the Silver Mountain Range. Such composition makes the region difficult to farm and produce, leaving the majority of Kanto cities to rely on imports from other regions including Johto.

For Denny, Niji, and Rose, the landscape was something amazing.

Going eastwards from Pewter, the group went down into a river valley. Following the river, they followed the trails back into the rocky volcanic hills of northern Kanto. Part-way between Pewter and Cerulean was Mount Moon, an impassible landmark due to steep sides and threat of rock-slides from higher up the peak. Within a mile of the mountain, a Pokémon Center set up as a rest area.

The Center’s structure was built into the surrounding mountain, allowing a breathtaking view of both the landscape as well as the geology of the mountains. It also served as a small tourist attraction because of this design. Posters explaining the geology of the Silver Mountain Range dotted the walls as large class windows showed the sun set off in the west, dropping past the slope of Mount Moon itself, the light trickling in through the pine trees rooted on the sides. There was a board that showed the images of persons who had gone missing within the tunnels of Mount Moon, letting trainers know to keep an eye out and to be careful when traveling the catacombs.

Denny, Niji, and Rose watched as the sun set, from the comfort of the Pokémon Center’s food area. The three had been traveling for three days since Pewter City. Over the time, Denny had spent his time drawing in his sketchbook. Rose had to admit that he was good at drawing, something she was only slightly decent at. But she was better at Pokémon battling and had that against him. However, Niji was cute, and Rose spent the time that they rested, petting, hugging, and playing with the Mew.

They had caught a few Pokémon along Route 3. There were the common Pidgey and Rattata common to all of Kanto, but they also saw other Pokémon along the way. Denny caught an Ekans and a Sandshrew near some of the loose rock and soil, while Rose caught a Poliwag from the river they passed after leaving Pewter.

Rose was better at battling, and due to the Indigo League rules, she had the majority of the money. Among the trainers that they had faced, Denny won as many battles as he lost, ending up barely gaining any money through the process. Rose, however, continued to have a better winning average than him, which meant their current meal was on her.

As the three sat there, filling up on food from the Center’s cafeteria, they looked out and watched the sunset cast long shadows along Mount Moon.

“According to the ‘Dex,” Denny commented, searching through the Pokédex for information on the area. “Mount Moon is an old landmark that was used in early settlement of Kanto. The topography won’t let anyone cross over it, so the only way is to use the natural caves that honeycomb their way through the mountain.”

“Well, going through it tonight isn’t going to be a good idea,” Rose added, as she held Niji close to her while the Mew ate. “By the time we reached the cave it would be too dark to set up camp, and the only shelter would be inside the caves, which aren’t lighted anyway.”

“A good night’s sleep on a bed will help out anyway,” he replied. “Sleeping on rocks isn’t good for the back.”

Rose stood up and let Niji out of her arms, setting her gently on the table. “I’m going to head to my room and grab a shower before getting to bed. It’ll be the last chance we’ll have until we get to Cerulean.” Grabbing her things she headed to the room.

Denny sat there and munched on the last of his food, watching as the sun finally sank down below the horizon. Just over a week and he was already so far from Pallet that he could hardly believe it. He was seeing the world finally, and he was going to have fun with it. The problem was that he could not battle as well as Rose. His traveling partner was a great battler and strategist, the fight with Brock and the trainers heading to and from Mount Moon showed that.

Niji didn’t like fighting, and his other Pokémon were still wet behind the ears against other trainers. When he did win, he won on a fluke if anything, and he realized that. What he needed was a good Pokémon, a strong one if he wanted to keep gaining the money for keeping his Pokémon healthy and caring for Niji properly.

How to care for a Pokémon that no one knew about except from legends? It was kind of difficult and Denny second guessed himself several times about the proper way to care for her. Whenever he looked at the Mew, she seemed happy, smiling back at him and using his head as a resting pad while they traveled. She was young and was still learning about her abilities. Denny hadn’t used her in any battles since against Rose, now that he had other Pokémon to accept challenges with, he made sure that she didn’t fight, even when he could call on her for a fight, he avoided it.

He cleaned up the table of his trash and Niji floated to rest on his head. After disposing of his trash Denny started to walk around the Pokémon Center, at the various trainers and tourists. Many of them had their Pokémon out of their containment, interacting and showing them off to everyone else. They were stopping because trying to cross the distance to Mount Moon was a suicide run at night, unless there was a full moon.

Walking amongst the trainers he was surprised to see veterans as well as new trainers talking and sharing information on training techniques and battle strategies. He tried to listen in on a few, but didn’t want to make a pest of himself, so Denny wandered to the store of the Center, looking for something that might help improve his skills would be a good idea, but just spending his money randomly wasn’t useful either. He passed the board with images of missing persons that vanished within Mount Moon, looking them over just in case he actually saw them, or their remains.

“Hey, kid with the Pokémon on his head.”

Denny jumped slightly and looked around. Sure enough, he was the only one with a Pokémon on his head. He looked around the center. There was a small group around the counter to the store, and others walking past in the direction he just came from.

“No, no. Over here.”

He spun around and saw a man sitting on the floor near a support column. The man was overweight, wearing dark shades and had a handlebar mustache. A wide towel was sitting in front of him. Resting on the towel were some books, little figurines, a few wrapped up parchments, and a handful of Pokéballs sitting there.

“Hello son,” the man said, fanning himself with a small white paper fan with a red circle in the middle. “Whatever you’re lookin’ for, I ‘ave it here.”

“Uh… Sure,” Denny replied sarcastically before starting to walk away.

“Wait! Don’t you want to be stronger?” the man asked, a twinkle in his eye behind the shades.

Stronger? Denny thought. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I ‘ave access ao the most powerful Pokémon in Kanto, and if yer ‘nterested, I can give ye a discount.”

“Discount? What powerful Pokémon?”

The man snickered before picking up one of the Pokéballs and holding it close so Denny could see it. “Behold,” he said in a low voice. “Magikarp, a ‘trong Pokémon able ta control the tides the’selves. And it be going at a special price for ye.”

“How much?”

“Ą500,” the man said smiling.

“WHAT?!” Denny said, shocked and appalled. “That’s outrageous! No one would pay that.”

“Aye,” the man replied. “Normal trainers wouldn’t because th’y fear the power o’ the Magikarp. I guarantee that no one will stand in yer way with this fine Pokémon. And all it costs is Ą500.”

Denny weighed his options. Could he actually trust this guy, who didn’t fit in with the regular shopping center? Was it really worth blowing the money he had managed to scrounge together and buy a single Pokémon as opposed to getting items that could help him survive battles? Could he really afford to lose every single match from here on in?

In the end, Denny gave in. Handing the man his money, Denny received one Pokémon in trade. Grasping the ball in his hand he and Niji continued back to his room, as the old man snickered to himself.

They continued down the hallway until they heard running behind them and the shouting of officers. Denny looked behind him and stepped to the side as the man he had just bought from came running by, the mustache hanging on by a thread and glasses resting on his forehead, holding his wares under his arm, being followed by two security officers. He heard them shout at the man to stop, and something about shenanigans.

“What’s going on?” he asked some observers as they followed the pursuit.

“That guy’s a con-man. He’s been ripping off trainers and tourists by selling them fake items and selling out really dumb Pokémon for outrageous prices,” and that was all Denny caught as the others ran past.

“A… a rip-off?”

* * *

“I can’t believe you fell for that!” Rose exclaimed as they walked towards the entrance of Mount Moon, following a shallow stream. Denny was walking along, feeling low-witted and kicking himself for falling for an obvious ploy for power. “Just because you see Magikarp merchandise everywhere doesn’t make the Pokémon powerful, or even useful.”

Hindsight is 20/20, as the saying goes, and Denny was feeling the effect since the last of his earned money bought the Magikarp. Magikarp are common in every body of water throughout the world. They are so common in every aquatic environment, that their specific ecological niche is up to question. Their body is covered in thick scales, and has stringy muscles that make it physically weak. To compensate for this, the tiny fish Pokémon is able to survive in any environment, no matter how polluted the water is. Their reproductive output is high, using numbers to increase their survivability.

“Besides, if you really wanted one that badly, we could have fished one out of the river…”

“You don’t need to continually rub it in,” Denny replied, slouching in discontent.

“Well you can get rid of it at the next river we come to.”

“Get rid of it?!” Denny exclaimed. “But I spent my entire savings on it! I’m not just going to throw him away.”

“Quit complaining,” Rose snapped back. “You bought something useless and now you refuse to get rid of it. Don’t come complaining to me if it comes back to bite you.” Rose sighed. “Besides, we’re here.”

Denny and Rose looked at the massive mountain that loomed above them. The peak stretched into the sky, darkened from the sun rising behind it. Pine trees created a spine blanket that seemed to wrap the entire mountain and surrounding landscape. Up close, however, the cave entrance beckoned them. The cave mouth was large, stalactites and stalagmites based around like teeth, the darkness beyond a soul-crushing black.

“We’re going in that?”

“That’s the plan,” Rose replied, scrambling through her pack for something. She pulled out a flashlight and one of her Pokéballs. “Time to shed some light on the situation.”

With a flash of light, Loki materialized from his Pokéball. The Charmander smiles at Niji before he and his trainer started to walk into the cave. Denny followed, digging around in his pack for a flashlight of his own. With Rose’s flashlight and Loki’s tail, the tunnel was illuminated. Crevasses carved into the rock by Onix trails honey-combed their way through the large mountain.

The noticeable thing about Mount Moon, was that it wasn’t completely comprised of igneous rocks, like the majority of the Silver Range. The mountain was supported by a base of sedimentary rock, with igneous rock forming the upper half. While walking through the cave, the humans and Pokémon could see the transition as the cave dipped down into the base formations. Layers of sandstone, siltstone, and limestone changed as they went lower into the stratigraphy.

Exiting from the cave, they found themselves in a large cavern. The light from Loki’s tail reflected from water still in the cave, and the sound of rushing water echoed through the cavern. Caverns formed from water percolating through the more porous layers. Limestone was eroded by the water flow, creating a cave by dissolving the limestone and carving out the sediment. This massive cave was formed by the same processes, using the water coming from the river and eroding the sedimentary rock, flowing through and emptying out at some point on the east point of the mountain, flowing by Cerulean City and to the open sea.

The group explored the cavern, sometimes running into other trainers who were on their way through to either Pewter or Cerulean. Rose battled those that wanted a fight, while Denny tried to sketch with Niji holding the flashlight. While watching Rose battle, Denny started to question how useful his Magikarp, who he named Loch, would be. The Pokédex didn’t give any tips for raising a Magikarp, and all the information stated the tiny fish Pokémon lacked any abilities other than being highly reproductive and resilient to pollution.

He refused to think that the Pokémon was useless. Every Pokémon was good at something, had some ability. And apparently this one was it’s toxin resistance and reproductive cycle. It was also partly because Denny had felt useless compared to Rose. Rose was a competent trainer, while he could barely get his Spearow to follow his directions in battle. She had also studied hard for the exam, working to be a trainer since before she turned 16, while he jumped in last minute and wasn’t even sure what he wanted to do.

Pokémon battles were a regular part of a trainer’s life. Even if he wasn’t trying for the League championship, how was he going to prove his worthiness for caring for Niji? If he could raise Loch to be strong and healthy, then maybe he would have a better idea for Niji. This cavern had a body of water in it, a diverged flow coming from the main river that cut part of the valley. Taking the flashlight, and letting Rose continue her battles, he walked towards the sound of rushing water. A waterfall nearby, and water feeding it.

The light reflected off the surface of a flow of water, and Denny grabbed the Pokéball that held Loch. He threw it towards the water, and the ball burst into energy, reforming underwater. The energy contorted, forming into a fusiform shape, with large barbules on the top and bottom of the form. With the fading light, Denny could see the red scaled body of the Magikarp. A single pair of whiskers stretched out from either side of his mouth, and his eyes were wide and blank. On Loch’s dorsal fin was a marker with the number six.

“Heya Loch,” Denny said, kneeling near the water’s edge, the Pokémon’s form blurred by the water refraction. The Pokémon just flailed around in the water, pushed around by the current. Something slammed into the Pokémon and Loch started to lose control of his place in the water column. Pushed towards the edge of the flow. “Loch, be careful… Loch!” Denny stood and started to run, following the body of water as the Magikarp was carried away by the current.

The water flow was picking up, and the Pokémon was having trouble keeping up with the current. Its body was thrashed around as the water took it closer towards the sound of the rapids, and Denny was running faster, trying to reach for it, shouting at his Pokémon to return to his Pokéball. The Magikarp was concentrating more on trying to stabilize himself in the water, just before he was taken over the edge.

“LOCH!” Denny shouted as he realized what happened. He would have fallen over the edge if Niji didn’t follow and move in front of him and bracing him. She pushed him back and he fell hard on his rump.

Rose came running up, her flashlight flashing in his face and Loki breathing hard after the last match.

“What happened? You okay?”

“Loch..” Denny mumbled. “Loch’s down there!”

“Loch?”

“My Magikarp.”

“What?! You mean you let it go?!”

“No I didn’t let it go! I was trying to figure out how to take care of him so that everyone won’t think he’s useless!”

While this shouting match was going on, echoing through the cavern, Niji and Loki were trying to calm down their trainers by getting in between them and holding them back. The two of them stared at each other, stubborn and iron-willed. Niji’s head was starting to hurt from the surface emotions she could feel off of both of them. Anger, desperation, surprise, shock, sadness, the strong emotions started to strain her sensitive abilities.

Denny backed down first, looking at the rushing water as it fell down into a lower pool. “Loch’s down there, I know it.”

“You can’t be serious.” Rose replied. “Moon’s a maze of tunnels and caverns, we’d get lost so easily that we’d die down here.”

“Then follow the water. It should lead out of here somewhere.”

“Or lead to the ground water,” Rose said, folding her arms. “And then we’d both be sunk.”

“Then I’ll go alone,” he looked at her, serious as he clicked on a flashlight. “Come on Niji.” The Mew floated behind him and then rested on his shoulder. Rose couldn’t believe her ears. He was serious about going after a Magikarp!

“Wait up!” she shouted as she and Loki ran after him. “You won’t get too far in here!”

* * *

Officials of both Cerulean and Pewter had marked the main path through Mount Moon. Structural geologists had taken their time in analyzing safe paths through the massive mountain, and reinforcing them along the way. Other paths were not marked, as they were outside of the main path. Onix tunnels criss-crossed the entire mountain and the river system created multiple caverns throughout the underground. The marked path through the rock actually went through a few differing caverns interconnected with tunnels.

Denny, Niji, Rose, and Loki were currently following any path that seemed to take them closer to the water. Some tunnels ended in cliffs that were created by water flowing down and eroding the sedimentary layers, following the path of lease resistance. Between the two flashlights and the Charmander’s tail, they brought light down into a part of the world where light had never existed, or had a reason to.

They could hear Pokémon scattering away, digging into the sides of the caves to escape the light and the danger that such an unknown thing could pose. There were a few glimpses of Sandshrew and Paras eyes staring back, before scampering back into their own crevasses carved into the caves. Along the trek, the sound of water faded in and out as they continued to descend through the sedimentary layers.

“I’ve lost track of how far we’ve gone,” Denny commented, winded.

Rose leaned against the side of the cave before sliding down. “We’ve been going for a few hours at least, and had to back-track once or twice.”

Opening a canteen, Denny took a drink gulping the water down. He gasped, gained his breath again, and then stated, “I hope Loch’s alright.”

“You could always catch a new one,” Rose replied. “Magikarp are a dime-a-dozen.”

“But they aren’t the same.” He looked at her. “I may have screwed up and spent all of the money I had been able to gain through luck on a common Pokémon, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going after him because I spent so much. I’m going after him because he’s an individual. Pokémon of the same kind may be the same, but they’re different in other ways. I wanted to get to know the differences of Loch before we got through the mountain, hopefully I could have figured out something more about him.” He hung his head low, his hair covering his eyes. “But now… it looks like we won’t find him at this rate.”

Rose was quiet. Sure Denny wasn’t the best trainer in the world, but he cared for his Pokémon so much. He watched after Niji after she was injured, he cared for his other Pokémon too, slowly gaining their trust. He may not be able to come up with strategy, but he did have a way towards Pokémon that she didn’t see in other trainers. He treated them as friends and family.

Niji nuzzled against Denny, feeling the humans emotions. She wanted him to feel better, but was unsure how. Losing Loch was scary for him, and was even scarier for her because he nearly ran off a waterfall going after the Magikarp. She hugged him as best her small arms could, wanting to comfort him.

The Mew’s ears twitched. Something was going on nearby. Niji looked around, from the light of Loki’s tail and the two flashlights, she couldn’t see anything. Something was there though, she could hear it, almost feel it resonate through the cave. She got everyone’s attention by chanting and mewing before flying off down the tunnel.

Denny, Rose, and Loki pushed themselves up, trying to follow the Mew. Something had caught Niji’s attention, and they were following, struggling to keep the lights on her. They ran after the Mew, nearly tripping over stones and rocks through the roughly dug cave. Their lights bobbed as they tried to keep track of the floating Pokémon as she curved around corners, stopped to listen, and then continued on. Something was bothering the Mew, and Denny, Rose, and Loki followed her as best they could.

Mew started to slow down and then stopped. The humans and Charmander caught up with her and had to catch their breath, gasps echoing through the cave.

“Niji *gasp* what *GASP* What’s wrong?” Denny tried to say, breathing hard.

Rose struggled to regain her breath too, one hand against the wall to steady herself. Even Loki was panting hard, just as if he had gotten out of a battle. Niji floated down, resting on the floor and arching her head, her ears constantly twitching. Denny watched his Mew for a response, but Niji’s attention was diverted. He tried looking around, listening above the sound of heavy breathing (even his own) and watching where his light touched rock. Looking up he could see light reflected back.

Was it water? Something refracting the light back to him? Denny turned off his flashlight and looked. The light was still there, farther down the tunnel.

“Hey Rose,” he said. “Turn off your light and recall Loki.”

“What?” she replied, still catching her breath. “Why?”

“There’s light up that way,” he said, trying to regulate his breathing back to normal.

“You sure,” Rose looked herself, experimenting with her own tests before acknowledging it. “Yeah, there’s a light up there. Come back Loki.”

The Charmander returned to his Pokéball and Rose caught it before turning off her own light. Carefully, the three started making their way towards the light, Niji perched on Denny’s shoulder. The cave tunnel they were in started to turn upwards at an incline. Sore muscles worked to get them up the incline and closer to the light. It could be a way out, or back to the main path.

Thoughts of finally getting out of Mount Moon’s tunnel system were dashed to bits as they neared the source of the light. Sounds of men shouting orders and the hard grinding of machinery made their way to Denny and Rose’s ears. The chink of pickaxe mixed with the grinding of shovels, men shouting orders, machinery, and even the grunting of someone or something as they worked. As Denny, Niji, and Rose neared the exit of the cave tunnel, they saw that the light that they had seen was actually one of many lights secured into the rock ceiling using a scaffolding.

As they reached the ending of the tunnel, both of the humans gasped in shock.

Before them was a massive cavern, larger than the main one marked as the route to Cerulean City. The exit of their cave was already a hundred foot drop onto hardened rock and stone. Huge stalactites and stalagmites kept the roof from collapsing, the larger ones were surrounded by support structures that also connected to the light scaffolding. More support columns were erected and added extra support to the cavern ceiling, noticeable because they didn’t match the surrounding geology. There was a large body of water far off to the left of where Denny and Rose stood, it was almost still, but the light illuminating the area showed a slow moving body of water.

Bright lights hung from the scaffolding secured to the ceiling, illuminating everything from above. There were massive lights on the ground, further brightening this dark world. Huge machines with a crimson R on each side pushed tons of earth and gravel out of the way, exposing fresh rock bedding planes. As the machines rolled past, people dressed in pitch-black uniforms with bright red R’s on the torso area, rushed in with shovels and pickaxes, and started breaking up the fresh rock. Pokémon were also used in the excavation. A massive horned creature with armor that resembled rock used its horn to drill through rock, sanding it down, or destroying it. One four-armed humanoid Pokémon hefted large boulders out of the ground and threw them into the piles of used earth and dirt that had been pushed aside by the machines. There was a massive coalition between humans and Pokémon to unearth something.

Several tents were erected a bit away from the main excavation, and lights illuminated everything in the camp. Field markers were set up, breaking down older sites into grids divided by orange string.

“What is this?” Rose asked.

“I don’t know…” Denny replied. “But I think they’re looking for something.” Niji shrank behind Denny, just peeking her head out at the sight. She mewed lightly, so that Denny could hear her. “Niji, you don’t know what’s going on do you?” The Mew shook her head, but she did float around to the other side of his back to point towards the water at the other end of the excavation. “You think Loch is down there?” Niji nodded to him.

“Wait,” Rose said, seeing the thought brewing in his head. “You aren’t serious?! We have no idea what they’re doing down there, even who they are.”

An explosion rocked the cavern, causing Denny and Rose to drop to the ground of the cave. Parts of the cave dropped on them as the shockwave rocked through the rock formations.

One of the machines had been damaged, smoke flowing into the cavern. Fires started to roar from the damaged vehicle. The personnel started giving it a wide breath as several Pokémon erupted from the front end of the machine. Their bodies were round, with stout legs and a wedge-shaped head. The spherical bodies were made of molded boulders and rock. Three curled into their bodies and started to roll around, knocking the humans over and damaging more equipment. Others started tossing boulders at everything they could.

The humans released Pokémon to battle the wild ones, and some just threw black Pokéballs that connected with the bodies and capturing the wild rock Pokémon without so much as a fight. The exchange of forces lasted less than a few minutes, with the black clothed humans as the victors with new Pokémon and then continued with their work. From their vantage point, Denny, Niji, and Rose were awed by the power and control this group of humans showed.

“Just who are these guys?” he asked, Niji still keeping him between them and her.

“Maybe,” Rose commented as she thought.

“What?”

Rose started crawling back down the tunnel, away from the mouth of the cave and the lights from the excavation before she replied. “I heard somewhere about a syndicate that specializes in stealing rare and unique Pokémon, then using them to make a profit. I thought it was just a myth,” she commented, looking back at the cave entrance. “But now…”

“Loch’s down there, somewhere.” Denny said. “I have to get him back before I lose him again.”

“You’re nuts,” she said. “We have no idea if this is the syndicate or some mining operation.”

“And that’s why we have to be careful.”

“Ooooooh no. You are not dragging me along again.”

“Look, if it was one of your Pokémon, wouldn’t you go after them?”

“Well..”

“Well I am, and I will. I refuse to leave Loch behind.” Denny started moving down the cave, looking for any cave that would take them closer to ground level. Rose just stared at him, dumbfounded once again. He was really serious. Not only had he managed to drag her down into the bowels of Mount Moon, he was going to try and infiltrate a mining operation that was probably a cover for a crime organization!

The three continued moving through the cave tunnels. Following Niji’s direction, they followed the Mew down the incline, going farther down into the mountain base. There were several turns along the path, with Niji stopping several times, listening. After several minutes, Denny and Rose could then hear the machinery again, echoing loudly in the tunnel. Carefully they stepped closer to the mouth of the cave. The cave exit turned slightly before exiting out into the cavern, the bend in some rock Pokémon trail.

They looked out, into the cavern. Boxes of supplies were stacked along next to the exit. Strobe lights illuminated the path, which was worn dirt and some exposed rod bed. There were a few black-clad people walking around in pairs further down the path where it crossed other paths through the camp.

“Ground level,” Denny whispered.

“Secret organizations, earth loaders, stolen Pokémon.” Rose added.

Niji looked and started pulling on Denny’s collar, pulling him back. He and Rose hid back behind the turn in the tunnel. Anymore and they would stumble around loose rocks and grit, alerting them to their presence. Rose slipped, a rock landing on her foot, she started to let out a shout of pain, Denny and Niji’s hands went up to hold her mouth shut.

A set of guards came up, flashing a light into the tunnel.

“Did you hear that?”

“You’re stir-crazy, probably some Sandshrew or Geodude getting curious.”

Denny and Rose stayed still, daring not to breathe as the light shined nearby, nearly grazing their clothes and revealing their position. The seconds were tense as the flashlight shone in before moving away. They waited and the guards passed, shining the light elsewhere and going about their rounds. Denny and Niji let out a sigh of relief as Rose grunted about her foot and the rock that fell on it.

“Ow,” she muttered.

“That was close,” he replied.

The three waited a bit longer before slinking deeper into the camp. The dirt path crossed other paths at constant junctions, evenly spaced between supply boxes and unused machinery. Niji kept looking over her shoulder, nervous and fearful, hanging onto Denny’s shirt as much as she could, holding her body next to his. Avoiding any patrols they may come across, the group managed to get close to one of the large tents. They slinked in, as low as their bodies could get, watching for an opportunity to sneak by and find out some answers. As someone came out of the large tent, they shrank back behind their cover.

“Men!” someone shouted loud enough that Denny, Niji, and Rose could hear. His voice was clear, concise, and in control of the situation. They peeked over the edge of some storage boxes and watched. The people were within several yards of the two intruders. “Status report.” The man stood tall, without the black burette that the other workers had, exposing bright green hair, that reflected back the light from above.

“Sir,” someone, a female, responded. She was dressed in a black skirt with the black top of the other personnel. Long stockings went up her legs and melded with the black boots. “Our excavators uncovered concealed Golems that damaged Earth Removal Unit 3 and attacked our men. They responded by battling and then capturing the Pokémon, and are now under our control. Unit 3 is damaged and it will take several hours to assess the damage before work can continue.”

“Continue with the operation. Once excavated, send the fossils back to our base in Celadon for study before shipping them off to Cinnabar’s research facility. Make sure our guests come along as well.”

“Sir, something else of interest.”

“Go on.”

“We found a Magikarp floating along with our supplies from the aqueduct line.”

“So?”

“It had a trainer mark on its fin.”

“Someone didn’t want it. Cage it up and re-capture it after the supplies are unloaded. Dismissed.”

“Yes sir,”

Denny and Rose slinked down.

“They have Loch.”

“But where are they going to take him? And why are they digging up fossils here?” Rose replied.

“Dunno,” Denny said, looking around for another patrol. “But let’s find out.”

Denny, Niji, and Rose continued to sneak their way through the camp, ducking behind what they could as soon as a group of the black clothed people started to walk by. There were several tents throughout the camp, and the two trainers tried to find a way to look inside without being caught. Rose got on the ground and lifted one of the tarps, glancing into the tent.

A layer of dust covered the floor and the hum of an air compressor met her ears. Dirt and rocks littered the ground as larger chunks rested on tables. Several lamps hung from the top of the tents, illuminating the interior. This tent was being used for something, there were hammers, chisels, brushes scattered along the ground. Rose popped her head out, shook the dirt out of her hair, and brushed it off.

“It’s a work area,” she replied quietly. “They’ve got rocks on the tables and chisels on the floor.”

Continuing to sneak around, they prepared to peek into the next tent, when Niji noticed a patrol making their way towards them. Afraid, she pushed Denny out of the way, to save him and herself, ending up pushing Rose into the tent, causing them all to go crashing in. The tent flaps closed behind them as the patrol got close enough to see them.

Rose groaned, after having Denny land on top of her, she looked at the floor and then saw several pairs of feet step up to them, shifting around in the dirt.

“Oh no,” she muttered. Denny looked up as well, with Niji holding onto his hat.

Standing above them were several humans, dressed in old clothes that were dirt covered, mud caked, and worn. The edges of the sleeves were ragged and torn with holes in the fabric. Dirt and dust was layered on their faces, their eyes sunken into their skulls from long nights and little sleep.

“We’re in trouble,” Denny added.

“Who are you kids?” said an older man, with a slightly hunched back and shoulders. “And how’d you get here?” His glasses were scratched and covered in a thin layer of dust. The clothes on his body hung off his frame, tucked into his ragged pants. The man’s age showed with the grey hair, slightly balding on the top and wrinkled skin along his face and hands.

Denny and Rose looked at each other in confusions before responding.

“You mean you’re not going to sound an alarm?” Denny said.

“Only if we were in charge here,” the older man replied.

“You’re not with the excavation?”

“We are, but not by choice,” he stepped back and took a seat. “We’re here because they forced us.”

“Then what are you doing here?” Rose queried.

“We were kidnapped, drug down here and forced to work on preparing the fossils they pulled out of the ground.”

Denny stood up and helped Rose up as well. Niji was looking around, confused and afraid, but not as skittish as she was earlier.

“You were kidnapped? By the guys in black? Why?”

“We are from the Pewter City Museum, paleontologists and fossil perpetrators. They need us to clean and prepare the fossils before they ship them off to who knows were.” Someone else replied.

“So who are they then?” Rose asked.

“Team Rocket,” the older man replied. “They steal Pokémon and then sell them off to the highest bidder. The fossils they are collection are going to be used in the latest set of cloning technologies to bring the extinct Pokémon back to life.”

“And when they’re done with us, they’ll just finish us off and collapse the cave to cover up their involvement.” Someone else said, kicking a chair.

There was silence in the tent. Team Rocket? It really existed. They had seen Team Rocket fight a group of strong wild Pokémon and defeating them in seconds. There were probably hundreds of Team Rocket members in the cavern, each with strong Pokémon and expert battlers. They had machines, personnel, support, and money. As Denny and Rose stood there, the realization sank in.

They were not going to leave Mount Moon alive.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Surrounded, out-manned, and out-gunned, Denny, Niji, and Rose find themselves at the losing end of a battle. With death a stone’s throw away, they must rally the captives, and free themselves. Or else they become the next set of fossils in the darkness.

Next: Between a Rock and a Hard Place