Chapter 4: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Deep below the volcanic cap of the Silver Mountain Rage, within the limestone layers that was the basement rock of Mount Moon, two trainers stumbled upon an operation by an evil syndicate. Denny, Niji, and Rose stood within a tent of an enslavement camp, captured scientists looking at them with sunken eyes and dirt layered on their skin. Many of them were middle aged, with one very old scientist sitting down to rest his knees.

“Th-They’ll kill you?” Denny said, shock through his system.

The older paleontologist looked at him, annoyance in his eyes. “Of course they’ll kill us. Once we’ve outlived our usefulness, and striped this site of all the fossils they can find, they’ll collapse the cavern with us in it while they ship them off to their laboratories. You don’t think that they’ll just take us out to tea and have a nice chat afterwards?”

The elder’s snap made Denny take a step back.

“Don’t you have any Pokémon? Anything you can use to get out of here?” Rose asked.

A younger scientist spoke up. “They took them! You don’t think we could get away if we tried?!”

Denny, Niji, and Rose looked at him. He had short hair, wearing a small pair of glasses. His shirt wasn’t as ragged, and he didn’t have the thick layers of dirt and dust on his face like everyone else. Denny stared at him for a second, before remembering something. He had seen this guy on the missing person’s billboard back at the Pokémon Center, just outside Mount Moon.

“Hey!” Denny exclaimed. “I know you. You went missing in the mountain.”

“Well,” the guy replied. “Yeah. I’m here aren’t I?”

“You’ll have to excuse Jake,” the elder one said. “He had just left after getting his License and was going to start research under me when Team Rocket attacked the Museum. He came looking and then ended up with us. They took his Pokémon and tossed him here.”

They took his Pokémon? Denny thought, looking over at Niji. Just like Lock…

“Where’d they take them?” he asked.

The scientists looked up at him, dumbfounded.

“You want to… know where our Pokémon were taken?”

“Yeah. Where are they?”

“Don’t you think we haven’t tried to get them back?” Jake replied. “They have the boxes guarded that hold their Pokéballs. After we’re done here… they’ll…. They’ll…”

“Recapture them and then claim them as their own,” another finished. “And make them forget anything but their new masters.”

“Dr. Zakrzewski,” said a voice from outside the tent. “If I may have a moment with you and your colleagues?”

The flap to the front of the tent was thrown open and the leader of the excavation group entered. The hat that was part of the Rocket uniform did not cover his bright green hair. A bright red “R” was across his left arm, the front half of his uniform was unlatched, letting one-half of his outfit folded over like a renaissance general. Narrow eyes looked over the tent, at the matted cots, few personal possessions that littered the ground, and the dirt that caked onto everything. Compared to the scientists, he was clean, not a speck of dirt on him.

Keeping his gloves on, the man walked into the tent, two guards flanking him. “I’m glad to see you are all so lively.” He spoke with the voice of someone in charge, who had power, and knew how to exploit it. “I hope your accommodations are still favorable?”

Zakrzewski stood up from his chair, looking at the leader on even footing. “The food is horrible, there’s no sunlight, and your flunkies barely let us get any sleep. It’s a wonder we’re all still alive, Mr. Marko.”

Eugene Marko let out a hearty laugh before his eyes narrowed and he got close to Zakrzewski’s face. “Understand me, Doctor,” his voice had changed to a threatening tone, all amusement gone from his features. “You are still alive because we still have a need for you. And that need is slowly diminishing. With every sarcastic remark, with every snip out of your mouth, you edge closer to being disposable.”

“I’ve had a long life,” Zkarzewski replied. “Death threats don’t scare me.”

“Maybe not against you, but your fellow guests are also included in how useful you make yourself.” The statement got Zakrzewski’s face to show surprise and concern. Marko stepped away, pleased with the reaction he got from the aging paleontologist. “Our sites have started to run dry, and the earth movers cannot clear any more rock unless we want to bring the river right up to the camp. We’re going to pack up and prepare to leave tomorrow morning.” He walked around as he spoke, before walking up to the tent flap. “Enjoy your rest Doctor…” With a flap of the tent tarp, he stepped out, the two guards following him.

The scientists waited a moment before exhaling a sign of relief.

“You two can come out now.” Zakrzewski said.

A box near the side of the tent shook a bit before the side fell off, letting Denny. Rose, and Niji tumble out of the inside. They were a jumble of bodies and limbs, with Denny on his stomach on the bottom, with Rose laying on her back on top of him. Niji sat on Rose, shaking her head to clear the disorientation of the crash.

“Ow,” Denny said.

“Not again,” muttered Rose.

“That was close,” one middle-aged scientist commented.

Seconds before Marko had barged into the tent, the scientists had pushed Denny, Rose, and Niji right into one of their unused foot lockers and closed the lid. The three could hear the entire conversation between Marko and Zakrzewski and were lucky the foot locker was sturdy enough not to break until after Marko left.

“But what good is it going to do,” Jake said, frantic. “They’re going to kill us all anyway.”

“No way,” Denny replied. “You can’t just give up now!”

The scientists and Rose looked at him, surprised at his outburst.

“There’s no point in going on if there isn’t a chance. But there is a chance. If we can get to your Pokémon, then maybe we can use them to escape. You can’t give up on life until you’ve had a chance to live it,” he recalled what he had told Niji as she laid on death’s door a few weeks back. “So you can’t give up yet either. Where are your Pokémon being kept?”

“Some boxes being prepared for transport right now I bet,”

“Where?”

Zakrzewski spoke up. “Back of the camp. Follow the path behind this tent to the left, take the first right and keep going until you find one of their digging vehicles It should be separately marked from the rest of the supply boxes and crates filled with fossils. There are supposed to be 21 Pokéballs in the crate, so it could be filled with other stuff. Ignore the rest.” He walked up to Denny and put his hand on his shoulder. “If you really want to help us get out of here, then that is our best option. Be cautious, Rocket is known for using Poison Type Pokémon, and they’ve mercilessly caught anything they’ve come across in this cave system.”

“Right,” he stepped back and grabbed his Pokéballs from his belt before releasing them. The light and energy formed into his Spearow, Mankey, Ekans and Sandshrew, each with their own looks of determination. “Niji, stay here with Rose and the others. We’ll go get the Pokémon back here and then we can form an escape plan after that.”

With that, Denny and his Pokémon snuck out the tent the way he and Rose had stumbled in.

Following Zakrzewski’s directions, the small party glanced around everywhere, keeping an eye on anyone or anything that might come down any of the paths. Falco was perched on his shoulder, not risking flying in the cavern. A bird Pokémon below ground would look suspicious. His Ekans, Nausica, slithered around the boxes, using her slender body and perception to watch out for any Team Rocket patrol to come down the path ahead. The Sandshrew, who he had nicknamed Mani was also helping Nausic in looking for trouble before it came, able to dig and survive in areas with little water, Sandshrews were resilient to drastic climate changes and prefer the deserts to other areas. While sneaking around, Rafiki, his Mankey, was using his adeptness at climbing and natural dexterity to peek around corners and then double back before being seen.

Between Falco’s eyes, Nausica’s stealth, Fakiki’s dexterity, and Mani’s own perception, Denny and his Pokémon had found the lines of vehicles that looked like massive drills on wheels. Denny tried to look for the one that had any indication of being the main supply truck, but there wasn’t much distinction between them. Why do I keep jumping in without thinking? he thought to himself. I had gotten so riled by Jake and the other’s just giving up that I rushed off without any kind of plan. I don’t know what I’m looking for, or how the hell I’m going to be able to carry 20-some Pokéballs. I don’t even know what I’m doing!!

He felt a tug on his pants and looked down at Nausica, who was curling up around his feet. Having caught the attention of her trainer, she motioned towards one of the vehicles with her head. Denny followed the Ekans move her body and saw a truck that was separated from the rest. Two guards were standing by it, one on each side of the giant doors. What grabbed Denny’s attention about it was a giant water tank sitting next to the truck, with a Magikarp inside!

“Loch,” Denny muttered excitedly. “Good work Nausica.” He looked around carefully, as did Falco perched on his shoulder, before he took out his Pokédex and turned it on.

* * *

The Rocket grunts didn’t know what hit them.

Standing guard at a supply truck was the most boring, tedious, demeaning job there was at the excavation site. They couldn’t talk to each other, couldn’t be distracted, they just had to stand there, and be on the look out for anything suspicious. On the average, all they usually saw were a few Pokémon that wandered in and then ran off, and the other Team Rocket members as they moved used supplies and re-fitted the drills for spare parts.

It was the most agonizing job, and it bored them both to death.

The guard on the driver’s side of the truck scanned the boxes, all labeled with a large red “R” and secured with several clasps. It was painful to look at, and the guard turned away to stare at something else. As his head turned away, he heard a low hiss, and spun his head towards the sound, a hand on his belt for a Pokémon. As he turned, he stared right into the bright yellow, reptilian eyes of an Ekans. The snake Pokémon flicked her tongue right in the Rocket’s face before she hissed and struck. She quickly coiled around the Rocket, putting pressure on his lungs and increasing his difficulty to breathe.

The other guard heard his partner try to gasp for air and tried to let out a shout. A Sandshrew slamming into his stomach, curled into a tight ball, stopped his alarm. With the wind knocked out of him, he hit the ground kneeling, right before a Mankey hit him hard with a well-aimed chop to the back of his neck, knocking him out cold.

Nausica held her grip on the Rocket tight, wishing to herself to choke the life out of anyone who abused her kind. She showed some restraint, and let the Rocket out of her coils when he lost consciousness.

“Nice work,” Denny complimented as he put the Pokédex away. He tip-toed closer to the water tank, looking around for any patrol or dock workers.

“Loch,” he said to the Magikarp inside. “Loch it’s me. Don’t worry we’ll get you out of here.”

The Magikarp looked at Denny, a faint memory recalled in his mind. It was the trainer who had bought him, after being fished out of a river and then captured maliciously. Much of his kind had been captured by the scam artist, and sold to trainers. Loch didn’t know what happened to his brethren, it also wasn’t known if a Magikarp could remember back that far. But it remembered Denny, he didn’t want to get rid of him, he wanted to know more about him.

Loch swam over to where Denny was standing, and muttered a garbled acknowledgement. To the human, it seemed as if the Pokémon was relieved to see him. Climbing onto one of the truck tires, Denny reached for his Magikarp as it flailed near the surface. Managing to hold onto the slick scales, he pulled Loch out of the tank. The resulting splash caused him to lose his footing, and Denny and Loch both fell to the ground.

Despite being gritty, slightly muddy, and wet, the two were glad to be back together. Loch’s body dissipated into energy before reforming as his Pokéball. With a smile, Denny grabbed the sphere and placed it back onto his belt.

“One down,” he said standing up and making his way to the truck trailer handles. “Twenty-one to go.” The twin doors screeched open, making everyone cringe for fear of being spotted. When no Rocket’s seemed to have noticed, Denny and his Pokémon climbed inside.

The trailer was a little over half full. Boxes were strapped to pallets, pushed against each other to ensure that the cargo would be stable during transit. Denny and his Pokémon started opening box containers searching for the stolen Pokémon. They searched through the first three boxes before finding them. The Pokéballs were resting on several shelves inside the box. Circles were cut to ensure that the spheres didn’t roll out of their position.

Finding the Pokéballs, Denny opened up his backpack and started stuffing as many as he could in. Zakrzewski was right on the number of Pokéballs, but Denny didn’t have enough room in his pack for all of them, so he used his shirt to hold the rest, gripping the hem of the shirt in his fist. Just before he was ready to get out of the trailer and get back, he heard someone walk up to the doors of the trailer, a light reflecting off of the edges of the doors.

The patrol walked up to the opened trailer, muttering to themselves why the trailer doors were open with no one guarding it.

“Where the hell are the guards?” the superior officer muttered as he walked closer to the doors and shined a light inside. The boxes were open and items scattered around on the inside, a Mankey was messing with some of the items before it looked at the Rocket officer. “Damnit!” he shouted. His rear would be on the line if his own superiors found out a Pokémon had broken in and messed with their supplies, especially a Mankey with a circle on its forehead with the number three in the middle.

Wait. A Mankey with a trainer marker?

Rafiki wasted no time as he lunged at the patrol member who had been foolish enough to be first in line. His claws raked across the Rocket’s face, leaving multiple parallel scratch marks everywhere.

“Go!” Denny shouted, and Rafiki jumped and started running, grabbing onto overhangs for lengthy swings. Denny, and the rest of his Pokémon jumped out of their hiding places in the trailer and most landed onto the stunned and bleeding Rocket member before running back the way they had came originally.

The rest of the patrol was stunned and surprised as a Mankey had roughed up their leader, and then used as a springboard for three other Pokémon and their trainer. The officer groaned in pain as he looked up. As he did, he noticed two more Rocket members laying under the trailer, unconscious and not moving. Rage building up in his mind he shouted at his subordinates.

“Sound the alarm! After them!”

* * *

“Why is he even trying?!” Jake exclaimed. “There’s no use. Team Rocket will just throw him in here with us or kill him. What’s the point?!”

Jake had been on a rant for a bit now. His normally quiet demeanor was shattered, as the stress of the situation had finally been able to sink in. Jake’s Pokémon had been taken from him and he was thrown into the cavern with other scientists, with death only a few hours away. The young scientist had given up any hope.

“He’s just a hot-headed trainer who doesn’t know what he’s doing!”

“Oh shut up!” Rose snapped back.

“I may not know Denny that well, I only met him about a week ago. But I can tell you that he’s stubborn and he’s not going to let you all die here. He’s putting you above his own safety, can’t you see that?” Rose’s face turned from a scowl to worry. “Even if he fails at least he’s doing something about it.” She was holding Niji in her arms and the Mew could sense the worry in the female’s surface thoughts. The Mew hugged her back, trying to reassure her, but unsure as to how effective it was.

“Jake,” Zakrzewski said quietly, grabbing the younger’s attention. “What Denny said is true, if you have a chance at life, don’t throw it away. I’ve lived for over 60 years doing what I love, and the only way they’ll stop me is if I am dead. The Rocket’s don’t know that Mr. Denny and Miss Rose are currently in the camp right now, and that’s working in our favor. If he does manage to succeed and retrieve our Pokémon, then we’ll have to take the risk to escape here with our lives, rather than lie down and die like obedient dogs.”

Looking at the doctor, then turning away to stare at the tent tarp, Jake was quiet for a minute.

The silence was broken by the shouts of Rocket officers and a warning siren beginning to blare through the camp. There was the sound of crashing tables, boxes and commands shouted to various Pokémon ,as chaos and anarchy enveloped the camp.

“Fury Attack!” came Denny’s voice as a collection of shadows came up to the scientist’s tent. Something slashed through the tarp with long slashes of their forelimbs before Denny and his Pokémon came running through, followed by over a dozen Team Rocket soldiers and their Pokémon.

“Must go faster! Must go faster!” Denny told himself as he ran through the tent with Team Rocket right on his tail. The Rockets ran right through the tent, not paying the scientists or Rose any attention as they chased after the male trainer who had stepped on their squadron’s leader.

After he had stepped on the leader while escaping from the trailer with the paleontologist’s Pokéballs in his pack and shirt, he had lead a large scale chase through the camp. He’d take short-cuts through random tents as he would flip tables, boxes, and chairs to slow down his pursuers, while the Rocket’s would just rip the tent to shreds trying to get to him. Eventually he lost his bearings just running on fear and the desire to not get caught by Team Rocket. In their annoyance they sent out their Pokémon to try and stop him as well. Denny was ducking and weaving through tent after tent, trying to find the route back to the scientists so that he could drop off his load and get a little bit faster. Of course this was one of his famous act first, think second plans that it took him several tries to find the path back to the tent he had started from.

When he found it, he threw the pack and Pokéballs to the others while still running, he and his Pokémon bringing chaos to the Rocket camp.

As the Rocket’s left the tent, no doubt creating more chaos and confusion in their actions, Zakrzewski reached down and picked up one of the Pokéballs that landed on the ground.

“It’s not a perfect plan, but beggars can’t be choosers,” he said, childish pranks sparking behind his eyes.

* * *

Denny continued to run, this time breaking out of the camp and heading across the excavation site. His Pokémon were keeping up with him, Falco carrying Nausica in his talons, while Manis rolled like a pin-ball and Rafiki jumped and swung from what the Mankey could find.

The workers were surprised as they saw someone running through their dig sight, stepping on and destroying fossils they had spent hours uncovering and preparing to transport. He even knocked over a pale of plaster that slashed over onto two Rocket workmen as he ran past. If seeing Denny surprised them, then watching as more than half of the camp came running after him, ordering attack after attack to be directed towards him.

Zigging and zagging along, he managed to avoid much of the attacks, but he was running out of places to run to as well as the energy to keep it up for much longer. Much of his stamina had come from fear and the need to get the Pokémon back to their owners, after that it was pure fear for becoming the next list of missing trainers in Mount Moon. He hadn’t thought this far ahead, and currently running was his only option.

His feet skidded to a stop as he left the main excavation site and got to the edge of the water bank. The loose dirt had been piled high next to the river that ran underground throughout all of Mount Moon, pooling at this cavern, and then exited out through more natural aquifers.

Gasping for breath, he and his Pokémon were officially stuck. Nearly the entire excavation crew had joined the camp in chasing after him, corralling him at the water’s edge. Denny’s throat was dry and his Pokémon were nearly exhausted more from running than any battle he had used them in. Falco released Nausica on the ground before he sit down as well, panting heavily to cool down his body.

The Rocket’s Pokémon and trainers stood there, ready to launch a final set of attacks, but they didn’t. They had cornered Denny at the water’s edge, and a clapping echoed through the cavern. Rows of Team Rocket members stepped to the side, letting a man pass through unopposed.

“Well done,” the man said, and Denny recognized the man as Marko, the one in charge of this excavation operation. “I must say that you succeeded in turning my camp upside down, destroying priceless Pokémon fossils, intruding on a business operation, and holding up work on this site for another few days.”

Denny gasped and swallowed what he could. His throat was dry and words weren’t going to come easy against Marko. “So? Stealing what’s not yours and killing people any better?”

“My my,” Marko replied. “Running across the camp, through the dig site, and then up here and still full of rambunctious energy.” He reached for a Pokéball hanging from a strip that went along his right arm. Grabbing it he threw it into the air. Energy materialized as the sphere disintegrated. It didn’t form into some large Pokémon, but into a larger sphere before the energy faced. The Pokémon was a sphere, split into two colors: white on top and red on bottom. Its eyes were large and on the upper white-half, and its mouth was on the red half. The trainer mark was right on the split between the colors, and the number was 126.

A battle was going to get underway, and Denny couldn’t win. Being able to win and live was at the top of his to do list, but at this rate he might not even make it through the next few minutes.

“Thunderbolt.” The Electrode started spinning, electricity sparking as it charged. With a charged gathered, the spheroid Pokémon let the charge loose, electric energy zapping everyone, including Denny.

The electricity was powerful, causing an immense amount of pain through Denny’s body. His Pokémon were affected too, although their bodies could take the damage, his couldn’t. Falling to the ground, his clothes were smoking from the raw energy and the scent of burnt ozone and hair filled the air. His Pokémon pushed themselves up, still willing to fight after the attack, calling at him.

He heard their voices. Through the pain and numbness randomly flowing through his limbs Denny pushed himself onto his hands and knees. The electric current from the Electrode was causing some of his bioelectrical systems to misfire. His vision was blurring even with his glasses on. Tendons and ligaments in his arms burned from the pain and twitched when he didn’t want them to. The effect of an electric passed paralysis was the inability to move because the body refuses to obey the commands of the brain. He forced himself to move one hand to his belt, missing a few times before grabbing the one belt that was attached there. With the ball in hand, he tossed it, back towards the water.

The energy released formed into Loch, who floated in the water, staring up at Denny confused.

“I got you back Loch,” Denny pushed himself to say as he forced his body to listen and stand up. He glanced back at the Magikarp in the water. “But I don’t think I can get out with you. Follow the river, be free, save yourself… huh?” Denny turned to see the Electrode within a few feet of himself. It was right in the middle between him and his Pokémon. The ball Pokémon was renowned for its seed, despite any way to utilize it aside from rolling or using electrical currents to hover.

“Explosion.”

The Electrode muttered something before it’s body started to cackle with electricity. The charged energy caused the body to glow brightly, blinding Denny and his Pokémon who could do nothing but watch in shock.

“Not good…” Denny muttered as the light enveloped him.

An explosion rocked the cavern, leaving a massive crater was where Electrode had been, and now where a smoldering Pokéball now sat. The shockwave from the Pokémon injuring him even more than the Thunderbolt it had unleashed earlier. His body floated down into the water, while his Pokémon were so injured they couldn’t return to their Pokéballs. Denny was gone.

Marko laughed in triumph. The infidel was going to drown or die from his injuries, he didn’t care, and now his Pokémon were so injured that they couldn’t move or defend themselves. His Electrode’s Pokéball bounced back to his hand as he reached for another and unleashing another power-house Pokémon.

The burst of light reformed and collected into a massive Pokémon. The Pokémon was purple in color, heavily muscled. A large row of spines started from the back of the head, down the spine, and stopped at the base of a long muscular tale. The head had two large mouse-like ears with small spines along the edges, and a large nasal horn from between the eyes.

“Nidoking,” Marko commanded. “Finish them off. Horn Drill.”

The Nidoking roared and then started running towards Denny’s remaining Pokémon, the air moving around the Pokémon creating enough friction to cause the particles to spin around his horn. A spinning sheath of air around the main horn.

“Rock Throw!”

“Flamethrower!”

From the Nidoking’s left flank a collection of boulders enveloped in flame came flying through the air. The burning rocks landed between the poison Pokémon and his prey. Skidding to a stop, the Nidoking slowed down at the obstruction, the energy around his horn dissipating.

Running up from the same flank that the boulders had come from, Rose and Loki were leading the freed scientists, Pokéballs in their hands and ready to get back at Team Rocket for their imprisonment.

“How quaint,” Marko stated as he watched them run up. “To feel the breath of freedom just before the life is strangled from you. Move it!”

The Nidoking grabbed a hold of a flaming boulder. Using the muscles in his arms and chest, he started to heave it up, using his hips as a fulcrum. Something was wrong though, the boulder was much heavier than its size showed. Then the boulders moved.

Rearing up, the boulders weren’t individuals thrown, it was an individual that they belonged to. A large Onix reared up, a massive spine on its head, and two smaller ones on the next two segments of its body. Flames still stuck to its body, although it felt no pain from the fire.

“Slam!”

The Onix roared as its tail lifted up and crashed into the Nidoking, sending the poison Pokémon sprawling towards its master.

“We are not some beat down dogs,” Dr. Zakrzewski stated, anger in his voice.

The scientists lined up along with the Onix, holding their Pokéballs ready. As one they released them into battle, each one having several Rock or Ground type Pokémon. There was a difference though, Jake didn’t have a Pokémon like the rest, he had a small one, about as big as Loki. It was green, with a ring of small spikes around its neck. From its head was a leaf, and it stood on all fours.

“We won’t give up,” Jake said, his confidence refined. “Will we Chikorita?” The grass Pokémon acknowledged her trainer.

Rose looked at the Pokémon she had never seen before, holding her Pokédex out and ready for the fighting to begin. She didn’t see Denny anywhere, and wondered if he was alright. His Pokémon were there, lying on the ground, injured badly and hardly moving.

Niji flew off and behind the line of scientists and Pokémon to go see Denny’s. They were badly injured, and she could feel their pain. So much pain was there that the Mew had to land and hold her head to be able to concentrate through the mental signals. She tried to find Denny’s but couldn’t. Manis, who was able to survive the Electrode’s attacks better than the others, muttered something,

Niji’s eyes grew wide with the news, and she floated off towards the water. She circled above it, mewing for Denny, and unable to go down after him. Niji’s search became frantic, and her calls were drowned out by the sounds of the scientists battling Team Rocket.

* * *

Deep under the surface, the water was still. A single form floated down through the water column, unable to control his descent. Denny’s body just floated down, he was unconscious. The force of Electrode’s Explosion had knocked the wind out of him and sent him careening into the water behind where he had been standing. Blood flowed from open wounds across his body, a gash across his forehead and some on his arms and legs. Some of his clothes were torn and shredded and burnt from the force of the explosion.

Loch swam around his trainer, confused. His trainer wasn’t moving, just sinking, air escaping from his lungs with every second. He tried to get under Denny and push him back up, but the Magikarp lacked the strength to do that. The Pokémon was frustrated. Magikarp were physically weak, and he couldn’t do anything for his trainer as he sank further and further from life. He tried harder, he tried as hard as he could, but all he managed to do was flip Denny head downwards into the darkness.

The Magikarp had to do something. This trainer he had been sold to, treated him better than the one who originally caught him, and had come after him when he was knocked and washed downstream. And now, Loch could do nothing but watch, as his trainer… his friend was slipping closer and closer to death.

His eyes narrowed and he tried to summon forth the strength to save Denny from his fate.

* * *

“Fire Spin!”

Loki inhaled and sent out a cylinder of flames that surrounded one of the plant Pokémon the Rockets were using. One thing was for sure, Loki’s training was paying off. The Charmander was able to hold his own against the constant onslaught of Pokémon Team Rocket continued to send at them. Rose wasn’t able to switch out Loki, she had to keep her attention on the battle at hand, so she couldn’t look up any kind of advantage with her other Pokémon. This was a war, not a battle.

With his latest opponent defeated, Loki took what little breath he could. This break in the defensive line gave a Rocket an opening as he sent out his own Pokémon. The energy condensed into a stout form, low to the ground and thick. Overlapping layers of rock-colored skin gave the Pokémon a tank-like appearance. Its head was flat with a short nasal horn.

As soon as it formed from the energy, it started to charge. Right for Loki!

Once a Rhyhorn starts charging, it won’t stop until either it forgets why or falls asleep. A combination of momentum and roller-sockets allows the Rhyhorn to move its massive body without exerting too much energy to maintain it’s running. That, also mixing with the Pokémon’s strength, make it formidable when trained.

“Razor Leaf!” Jake shouted.

His Chikorita started to whip the leaf on her head around, sending copies of it, replicating the cells and sending the copies flying at rapid speeds. Due to the rapid replication of the leaves, they had a thin edge as the Pokémon flung dozens of them at the Rhyhorn. Upon contact, the leaves disintegrated, but they were able to slice into the armor, leaving notches and abrasions. The soft tissue also added extra lubrication to the rock Pokémon’s joints, causing its limbs to over extend, making it crash hard into the ground.

“Nice save,” Rose commented as she used the little breather to search her belt.

“Fire Blast!” one of the Rockets said. A gelotenous blob of toxic sludge opened its mouth before unleashing a massive fire attack. The flames split into five separate lateral pieces as it spun towards Jake’s Pokémon. Such an attack was large enough that it would engulf several Pokémon in the area.

“Loki!”

The Charmander, although tired, dashed forward, taking the full brunt of the hit with his own body. Flames spurted in every direction as Loki held the attack back with his own body. Loki was forced back by the strength of the attack, his claws digging into the dirt and rocks. The Muk’s forced out more into the attack, feeding it. The lateral extending flames separated the two battling factions as they scorched and melted the earth. With such a strong force behind the attack, the five lateral flames wrapped around Loki, engulfing him in a large sphere of flame.

“No!” Rose shouted, her Charmander in the center of an inferno that nothing could survive. “Loki!” She watched as the inferno started to dissipate, keeping it’s sphere shape around her Pokémon. Nothing could be done, as she watched the flames, so hot that they started to melt the surrounding dirt and stone.

The first casualty. Rose’s first Pokémon. Tears started to go down her cheeks as she watched, the heat from the fire reaching her. Denny was missing, Niji was in a fuss, Pokémon were dropping left and right.

“LOKI!” she shouted, the pain in her voice echoing through the cavern, over the sound of the fighting sides.

The sphere of flame convulsed, grabbing her attention.

It pulsed, and shook, transitioning from the red-orange flame to a bright blue blaze. More energy was being put into the inferno than it could sustain, becoming unstable with every second. Finally, in a burst of super-heated flame the sphere exploded outwards, remnants of the fire sticking to the ground at the base. In the center of where the flames still lingered was a red colored form. It was taller than a Charmander, a deep crimson red. A small horn protruded from the back of its head. It had longer arms, each ending in long sharp claws. As it turned back towards Rose, the flames lapping in the sky, she saw its eyes.

The same color as Loki’s.

“Loki!” she shouted, tears of joy flowing from her eyes. The Charmeleon raised its clawed hand and showed off the sharp edges, smiling.

Through the stress of the battle and the flames engulfing him, Loki had evolved from a Charmander to a Charmeleon. Rose didn’t care about any of that, all she cared about, was that Loki was still alive.

“Reunions will have to wait,” one of the rescued scientists commented towards Rose. “They aren’t going to let up because of that.”

Niji came flying in, grabbing onto Rose’s hair and nearly knocking her over. The Mew was crying and sobbing. She was crying incoherently, her muttering mixing in with the sounds of the fight.

“Niji!” Rose stammered, trying to keep her balance. “What’s wrong? Where’s Denny?” The Mew continued to cry, hanging onto tiny fist-fulls of Rose’s hair.

“Miss Rose!” Zakrzewski shouted. “Tend to his Pokémon, we can hold them here. Mr. Spade! Go with her!”

“Right!” Jake replied, helping Rose to the back area. Loki followed, fending off a few of the Rocket’s Pokémon that decided to follow after them.

Rose reached where Denny’s Pokémon had been. The four there were heavily injured, too injured to turn into their Pokéballs. Jake and his Chikorita had to gather them up because Rose was trying to comfort the crying Niji. Denny’s Pokémon were horribly roughed up, the combination of the Electrode’s Thunderbolt and its Explosion made it look like a motor-round had hit the area. Patches of Falco’s feathers were missing, so were clumps of Rafiki’s fur on his body. Nausica’s scales were ripped up, and Manis was in so much pain he had curled up into a tight defensive ball to protect himself.

Rose pulled out an attachment from her Pokédex. It was designed to measure the health-levels of any Pokémon that she held it close to. She scanned every one of Denny’s Pokémon, and each one was so weak they couldn’t return without Denny’s command. Trying to see how to return the Pokémon to their Pokéballs without their trainer giving the commands, she turned as a loud roar echoed through the cavern.

Zakrzewski’s giant Onix roared into the air before twisting its body, and then falling to the ground. The body turned into energy and was reformed as its Pokéball. As Rose looked, she could see that Team Rocket had defeated the scientists Pokémon, although outnumbered, they had still put up a decent fight. However, now only Rose’s Charmeleon and Jake’s Chikorita stood in the way of the large and fully evolved forms of Team Rocket’s Pokémon.

Marko clapped, his Nidoking glaring at the scientists. “I would not expect anything less from you and your colleagues,” he said. “However I have lost my patience with you all. Kill them, Horn Drill!”

Marko’s Nidoking started to charge once again, air collected around his horn creating a whirlwind of friction. Between one battle worn Charmeleon and exhausted Chikorita, there wasn’t much that the defending side could do.

The fight had raged on, and no one had paid much attention to the body of water behind them. Its flowing water started to spin, creating a whirlpool in the center of the deepest part. Such a switch in the sound of the water changing directions grabbed some of the scientists’ attention. If being shredded to bits by a Nidoking was horrible, drowning wasn’t a better option. The cycloning water started to convulse as something from below sent it straight up into a twister of water.

This grabbed everyone’s attention as the water twister sprouted high to the cavern ceiling, wearing a trench in the cave roof. Bulging, the cyclone exploded outward, sending water everywhere, soaking Rose, Jake, the scientists, and the first few lines of Team Rocket. The thing in the center of the cyclone was large, long, and serpentine. Overlapping blue scales glistened with the water that still clung to its body. Ventral scales were a cream color and gave a contrast to the bright blue. Four sets of individual dorsal spines placed along the back. The head was a terrifying visage of rage and anger, a long face with a large mouth. Fangs on the upper and lower parts of the mouth. A set of whiskers extending from behind the Pokémon’s lips, and a ridge above the eyes that extended backwards into three separate horns. The Pokémon’s red eyes blazed as he roared, the voice echoing through the cavern.

“A Gyarados?!” Marko shouted. “How’s that get here?!”

On top of the Gyarados’ head, was a human form. His clothes were shredded and blood was slowly seeping down from his wounds. Rose recognized the body and her jaw dropped.

“Denny!” she shouted, Niji looking up at the Gyarados who had just erupted from the water.

Denny was semi-conscious. He felt something building through his lungs and stomach and lurched, coughing up a combination of water, blood, and food he last ate. His world was spinning, and he thought he was floating above a mob of people. The shock from Electrode’s Explosion and nearly drowning made his muscles sore and his mind clouded. He felt himself being guided from side to side, as if his body wasn’t under his control.

The motion he was under would have unnerved anyone with a stable sense of mind, but Denny was still out of it. His sense of orientation and clarity of thought was completely off balance. Without his glasses, his eyes tried to focus on what was going on around him. The mob was pretty big, and there were some others that didn’t look human. Flashes of orange and red made him think there was fire along the ground.

He heard his name, and he recognized the voice. It was Rose. She and Niji were calling at him. Was he dead? No. He couldn’t be. His body was sore all over, and his vision fogged, but he didn’t feel dead.

Trying to bring his world into focus, he first noticed that he wasn’t floating, but was laying on top of something that was moving for him. He looked down, and the blur of blue scales and a set of horns snapped him back to reality. Then he realized it. He was riding on top of a Pokémon’s head.

A roar echoed through the cavern as he tried to look down to see what kind of Pokémon he was riding on. It was a large serpent with eyes as big as his head. The eye rotated to look at him, the deep red iris showing a deeper rage, but it showed something else, something that was on the edge of his consciousness.

“Loch?”

The Gyarados growled in reply towards his trainer.

“Did you… Evolve to save me?”

A smile split the serpent Pokémon’s face before he reared back and unleashed a roar of challenge.

“No way,” Rose muttered as she looked up at the massive water serpent. “Loch evolves into Gyarados?!”

“Magikarp are difficult to train and most trainers ignore them,” a bearded scientist stated. “However, if someone shows the Magikarp enough respect and helps them through difficulties, they evolve into one of the most destructive Pokémon in the world.”

Niji sprung out of Rose’s arms and flew straight up to Denny, shouting out. Tackling her friend, she nearly sent them both falling off and into the water, tears of joy running down the Mew’s cheeks.

“I missed you too Niji,” Denny said as his Pokémon rubbed against his cheek. “Okay Loch,” he said, digging out his Pokédex from its pocket and activating it, pulling up an attack list for his new Gyarados. “Knock ‘em back with Hyper Beam!”

Roaring, bright energy collected in Loch’s mouth, becoming a sphere of energy larger than the Gyarados’ mouth. Twisting his neck, the Gyarados unleashed the attack as a wide-sweeping beam. The force of the attack caused Rocket members and Pokémon to be sent flying backwards. A long smoldering trench separated Team Rocket from Rose, Jake, and the scientists.

Loch surged out of the water, floating above the ground, undulating his body like a snake. Slithering up in front of the ex-captives, the Gyarados lowered his head to let Denny get off. His trainer was still woozy from the shock of the last few minutes and had to brace himself against the water serpent Pokémon.

“Denny!” Rose ran up with Loki and glomped the water-logged trainer. “You’re alive!”

“I have to admit that you had us worried for a bit there,” said one of the scientists.

“Glad everyone had my interests at heart…” he said through Rose and Niji strangling the air out of him. “Where’s my other Pokémon?”

“They’re really weak,” Jake replied. “So weak they can’t go back into their Pokéballs.” He held Falco in his hands and some of the scientists carried the other Pokémon.

“Falco, Rafiki, Manis, Nausica!” Denny gently pushed Rose off of him so he could see his Pokémon. “Where’s my pack?” Rose unslinged his backpack from her arm and handed it to him. Quickly he dug through his pockets and pulled out four yellow rhomboid capsules. Taking each, he crushed it and let the liquid pour over his Pokémon. The medicine soaked into the skin and through their bodies, repairing their injuries enough they were able to reform into their Pokéballs and they sprung up to his arms.

“Got you guys now,” he said as he attached the balls to his belt.

“You!” shouted Marko.

Everyone looked back to the Rocket line. Marko was standing as the smoke started to clear. His uniform was scorched, burnt, and the left half was gone. Rage was in his eyes as the rest of the front line had been thrown back.

“You will pay for what you’ve done to us!” He grabbed a Pokéball from his arm strap and pulled it, ripping the fabric off. The Pokéball exploded.

Energy twisted and contorted like multiple snakes hanging from the massive mushroom-shaped head. As the light cleared, a Pokémon resembling a jellyfish held itself up with long tentacles and a large hooked beak. Bright red orbs were on either side of the head with a smaller sphere between the two, above narrow eyes.

“Tentacruel, Poison Sting and Constrict. Kill them!” Using its tentacles to hold itself up, the jellyfish Pokémon started throwing itself towards them.

“Loch, Bite!”

“Loki, Mega Kick!”

“Chikorita, Vine Whip!”

As Tentacrule came barrowling towards the group, Chikorita started the counter attack. Extending two vines from her necklace of thorns, she sent the vines close along the ground, slapping into the water Pokémon’s crawling tentacles. With its balance stolen, Loki took his turn, in position and ready to take on Tentacruel. As the jellyfish Pokémon came in, the Charmeleon jumped up, his foot glowing with energy. Coming down fast, Loki slammed his foot into the back of Tentacruel’s soft head, the energy transferring and sending the other Pokémon flying. Baring his fangs, Loch twisted his neck and bit down into the Tentacruel’s tentacles. Twisting and convulsing from the poison laced through the tentacles, Loch threw the Tentacruel back towards the other side of the cavern, crashing through some tents and shattering boxes into splinters.

Loch, annoyed with this battle, roared through the cavern. The water behind him started to churn and bubble before spinning into four multiple cyclones. Combining, the liquid twisters joined into a massive cyclone that Loch sent forward, tearing up the cavern.

With such a destructive move tearing up the support of the cavern, the ground started to shake and parts of the ceiling were falling down.

“We can’t stay here,” Zakrzewski shouted. “The cavern’s too unstable.”

“Then how do we get out of here?” Jake yelled as his Chikorita returned to her Pokéball, and he avoided some falling rocks.

“The cave entrances are too far to run to, and the cave walls will collapse,” someone else stated.

“Everyone grab onto Loch!” Denny shouted as Niji held on to his shirt. “Take a deep breath!”

Rose recalled Loki as she followed the others. Grabbing onto the thick scales, the scientists, Denny, and Rose grabbed onto Loch’s scales. The Gyarados reared up and roared as the cavern started to collapse before slithering to the water and entering with a massive splash.

* * *

On the eastern side of Mount Moon, a spring trickled down. The water joined with a larger river that wound its way around Cerulean City and to the open ocean. At the source of the river were smaller springs like this one that fed water through Mount Moon’s sedimentary layers.

The flow of water was steady, but then began to get stronger and more forceful. Water pressure forcing rocks and soil bulging outwards. The deformity in the side of the mountain became larger, just before a Gyarados burst from the side of the hill, several humans clinging to his scaly hide.

Loch roared as he pushed through the last layers of rock and boulders to escape from the trap that had been Mount Moon. Time had been a factor in his speed, the humans lungs could only hold so much air, and bursting through the waterways at break-neck speed had almost cost him to lose a few of them. But now they were free from the underground of Mount Moon, and the sun shone brightly above.

Denny gasped for air, stumbling off Loch’s hide as his body was soaked to the bone. Rose was soaked as well, gasping for her own breath and trying not to hyperventilate. The scientists were short on air, but alive and fine. Niji choked for a minute before filling her lungs with air, snorting the water out her nose.

The little spring was now a forceful exit for the water that flowed through Mount Moon. Being forcefully pulled through the water had started the process of washing off the layers of dirt and dust that covered the scientist’s faces, and they squinted as the sun’s rays shined down upon them.

Thanks to the efforts of Denny and Rose, they were alive, free once again, and Team Rocket’s plan had been foiled.