When we last left our heroes, they'd just defeated Brock for the Boulder Badge. Now they find themselves trekking through the tunnels of Mt. Moon on their way to Cerulean City.
Emberwilde and I walked through the caves of Mt. Moon guided by my flashlight and kept warm by his tail fire. The Charizard burst forth from his pokeball as I entered the tunnel through the mountain, refusing to return to it through our journey so far. Emberwilde was clearly unhappy walking through the seemingly endless maze, his hot breath huffing on the back of my neck and every step shaking loose gravel from the walls. Shadows darted from our path, disappearing into cracks and crevices in the stone walls, clearly more afraid of us than we were of them. Fearful to turn around, I nervously asked, "Lord Emberwilde, would you not be more comfortable in your pokeball while I traverse these tunnels for us both?"
Emberwilde simply growled. "Charizard," was all he said as he continued following close behind me. Protection, though from what he didn't elaborate.
"Lord, I am certain that I am faster than anything in these caves. And if I do find trouble, I could quickly call upon yourself or one of your vassals to attend to the situation," I replied hesitantly. Part of me appreciated Emberwilde accompanying me through the darkness, but part of me dreaded the attention the predator was giving me, as if perhaps I might not be leaving these caves.
The Charizard growled again and pushed ahead of me, his wing briefly pinning me to the tunnel wall. "Lord, I'm not sure that's a good idea. I can't get the light around you to illuminate the way," I said trying to shine the light around the clan champion's frame.
Emberwilde took a deep breath and let loose a jet of flame that brushed away the darkness in front of us for several feet, as well as fainting some Zubats and a couple Geodudes too slow to get out the the way. "Char," he harrumphed and continued ahead, letting loose flames whenever he felt necessary.
The steady trudge through the darkness and hypnotic sway of Lord Emberwilde's tail flame entranced me until the world became simply a haze of one step after the next. The cave-in jolted me out of it. One moment all was calm, then the ground, the walls, the ceiling, everything started shaking.
"Lord Emberwilde, it's a cave-in! Please return to your ball?" I pulled the pokeball from my belt in an attempt to save the regal Charizard. Instead of retreating back inside the ball, however, Emberwilde leapt back, landing aside me. Two massive wings raised, protecting me from the falling stones as I curled myself under them. Boulders and stalactites fell toward us and I watched the strain on Emberwilde's face grow as more and more weight piled upon him. After a few seconds, the rumbling stopped and the two of us were left in a void: the only sound, our breathing, and the only light coming from Emberwilde's tail.
"Lord, you need to retreat now. If you'd simply return to the safety within the pokeball, you can resume your mission once someone recovers my body from the rubble." Again, I extended the black-and-red pokeball out toward the Charizard.
Emberwilde growled in contempt and sent a puff of smoke into my eyes, hindering my efforts as I dropped the ball. Blinded, hacking and wheezing, I almost missed the voice puncturing the emptiness. I wiped the tears from my eyes and regained my breath. "Excuse me, is someone out there? There's been a cave-in and we're trapped. Can you help us?" I called out to whomever might be on the other side of the obstruction.
Silence. Then, the cough of a throat clearing. "Well that's a little disheartening, replied a voice low and unhurried, "I guess you didn't hear me earlier, though I'm not surprised as the entire world crashed around you. I'll do you the courtesy of repeating myself just this once."
Again, Emberwilde and I were thrust back into the empty void. Before I could say anything though, the voice returned - loud, booming, and theatrical. "Prepare for trouble. Watch your hopes crumble," he said, the whooshing of loose fabric moving rapidly and gravel shifting as if he were also moving to a choreographed routine. "To conquer all people within this region, -" The man stopped abruptly, letting out a huff. "You know, nevermind. It just isn't the same without an audience." I heard him whisper muffled words to another individual or perhaps his pokemon before continuing with us. "I'm just going to give it to you straight, kid. You and your partner there burned down part of the boss's gym. Sure we got the cash to fix it right up, but that's not the point. Boss said no one messes with Team Rocket like that."
A memory popped into my head, a story told by one of the returning Bearers about their travels through the Kanto region. "Team Rocket, you said? Don't you folks usually steal pokemon?" A slight smirk cracked on my face as I imagined Emberwilde tearing through hot-air balloons while goons in matching uniforms tried to tie him down.
The Rocket laughed. "Sorry kid, not this time. Boss said an example is to be made of you two, and when an example is to be made, Boss calls Patty to get the job done right." I heard an echo of something small and metallic being tapped. "I'm going to let you two stew for a bit, maybe until your oxygen gets low or the panic and despair sets in. Then I'm going to drop another ton of rock on you both, burying you under the mountain for good."
No comments:
Post a Comment