-Call to Arms: Ch 2-
Wayward Cave is a multi-floor cave located in western Sinnoh. It lies on Route 206, with its entrance hidden beneath the Cycling Road. It has two floors, with and is the only place in all of Sinnoh where you can reliably catch Gible.
That’s what Mark knew from the games.
Unfortunately what he could have never known is that the Wayward Cave had a second name, a secret name, that betrayed it’s true nature.
It was also known as the Where-The-Actual-Fuck-Is-This-Peice-Of-Shit-I-Swear-To-God-I’m-Going-To-Comit-A-Felony-At-This-Rate Cave.
Mark’s little group of two misfits and various man-eating monsters had been making their way to Eterna City at what felt like a snail's pace, intentionally going slow to comb along the cliff walls, looking for Wayward cave. The problem was that, in the game this route had been much MUCH smaller and more compact, and now there wasn’t just miles of rocky ravine walls to look over, there were also half a million cracks that all looked like they could be the entrance to a cave.
Three days of travel and looking for a Gible had turned into three days of wasted supplies and food.
On the positive side, Shelgon had been getting a lot of free training against the wild mons that kept jumping them, and the occasional trainer. His balance and movement were getting a lot better and more fluid- you would have never guessed that he had been walking on two legs for his entire life just a week ago.
Also on the positive side, the long travel time with little to do had let his new companion finally relax enough to start coming out of her shell and talking more.
On the negative side though, the long travel time with little to do had let his new companion finally relax enough to start coming out of her shell and talking more.
“Look, you like Ghosts, I get that it’s your thing, but most people don’t like the idea of dying. Fear of death is the most basic instinctive, widespread, and basic fear that there is.”
“Which I don’t understand! It’s a natural part of life, it’s what gives life meaning.”
“Okay, think about it this way, if I pulled out my gun and shot you right not, with no warning, would you be unhappy about dying?”
Hellena opened her mouth to say something, but then scrunched her eyebrows and looked over at Sheinja.
“You shouldn’t have to think about it! Dying is bad!”
“You’re just demonising something you don’t understand.”
“I’ve seen enough to know that no one goes voluntarily unless there's something wrong in their head. But go on, give me a reason why literally dying wouldn’t be so bad, I’m sure you have plenty of them and that they’re all completely logical.”
“Living a life full of suffering can be far far worse than a peaceful death. Trust me, I’ve seen it. Sometimes it’s better to just… rest.”
“Bah, that’s total bullshit.” Mark exclaimed with a roll of his eyes, and a dismissive wave of his hand. “Suffering’s good! It builds character! Makes you strong, resilient! That’s how you get truly great men and women!” He pounded his chest with a fist. “Great men like my forefathers, who were willing to fly overseas and beat the ever loving shit out of a bunch of Nazis, then do it all over again with the Commies. Hard times create strong men, and strong men create prosperous times!”
“Would you really condemn someone, even yourself, to living in agony, restricted to a hospital bed and pumped full of so many drugs that you can’t feel your body rotting from the inside out? Forced to stay alive but unable to live?”
“After living that long? After fighting for so long to earn your place? Why in the world would you give up, and throw away everything you’ve ever accomplished?”
“For peace. To stop hurting.”
“Ha! That’s the world’s biggest joke, Purple.” Mark barked out a laugh and ran a hand through his hair, hiding the dark steel that came over his eyes. “Peace is a lie, it doesn’t actually fucking exist. As long as there’s at least two things on the planet that can interact, one is going to want what the other has.”
“I fundamentally have to disagree.”
“Then disagree while looking at the walls! Your opinion will increase in value if you can help me find the stupid cave we’re looking for.”
“You mean like that one over there?
Mark turned around and followed her finger to a human sized opening in the canyon walls- on the opposite side of the ravine.
He immediately took off in a dead sprint.
“H-Hey, wait up!”
-The Dragon King-
“This is bullshit.” Mark declared, staring at the dead end of a ‘cave’ that went maybe ten feet into the cliff, but still managed to have 300 Zubats willing to flood out at them.
“I don’t suppose you have some sort of fancy spiritual Ghosty thing you could do to help us out?” He asked as he looked back at Helena. “Maybe some experience with summoning rituals? Can we just will a Gible into existence?”
“S-Summoning rituals? No! Uh, why would I ever know anything about those?”
“...That sounded incredibly fishy.”
Hellena scratched the back of her neck, cringing at an old memory of lighting candles in a circle, as a kid, and trying to make a “friend summoning ritual”.
“No, unfortunately, I really can’t summon anything. I don’t even know if that’s possible.”
“Damn. I didn’t think so, but you had me hopeful for a few seconds there.” Mark let out an annoyed sigh and kicked a nearby rock, sending it bouncing along the rocky floor. “You know what, let’s split up. You go set up camp, and I’ll check along this last section of ravine wall for an actual cave. If we don’t find anything by tomorrow, I say we just head to the city. We’ll be there for a while anyway, and it’s not like we can’t come back later with more supplies.”
“Like a book on cave summoning rituals?” Helena snarked in monotone.
“Yeah, exactly. We need one of those, and when we get to the city, I’m putting you in charge of finding one. Don’t come back until you get it.”
-Dragon King-
A second Zubat dropped from the ceiling behind Shelgon, and prepared to hit a leech life, but something hard slammed into its side and sent it crashing to the ground. The Zubat tried to get back into the air, but was stopped as Mark brought down his metal bat with a grin and a wet crunch.
“That’s what you get for stopping me every three tiles everytime I went in a cave, you stupid fuckers!”
The last remaining Zubat let out a screech and beat a hasty retreat, but was mowed down in a stream of dragon fire.
“Shell.” The Dragon scoffed at the half dozen Zubats sprawled out on the cave floor, in various states of injury
The cave fell into an eerie silence, save for the distant dripping of water and the lingering scent of burnt leather from the scorched Zubats. Mark exhaled, rolling his shoulders as he propped his bat against one.
“Well, that was fun.”
The smell of the cave was thick and very distinct from any other type of environment Mark had ever been in. There was a scent of moss, a faint tang of minerals leached from the walls, and a lingering mustiness like old wet leather. It was very lush for being underground, lots of foliage and stuff, but sadly no Gible.
But as Mark sighed and turned to leave, Shelgon tensed up, lowering himself into a fighting stance and growling at… presumably nothing?
Wordlessly, Mark turned on the flashlight on his phone, and began sweeping the cave with it in the direction Shelgon was looking. The cave was silent, except for the soft crunch of gravel beneath his boots as he stepped closer, when a glint of gold high caught his eye up on a rocky ledge. Peering closer, he spotted a small, purple shape curled among a hoard of trinkets. It was a nest of everything from coins and rings, to shiny rocks and bits of polished metal.
It was a weird purple bat thing, with speakers for ears, that had her wings draped over her hoard like a protective blanket. Once the light was on her, she let out a defensive chirp.
“Ah, shit, I remember seeing you in footage from the new 3D games, but I don’t remember anything about you. Uh, it was Noise something right? Noise- Noy-“
“Noibat!” The bat growled.
“Yeah! That! Let’s see, you’re flying with wings, so a Flying type, and you’re purple. Purple is for Ghost, or Poison, or maybe Dark, but you’re a bat. Purple flying bat, like Crobat, who’s Poison-Flying so I’m going to guess you’re also Poison/Flying, am I right?”
The bat poked her head over the ledge and responded by forming a glowing(?) ball of darkness(?) and shooting it at Mark’s head.
Without needing a command Shelgon jumped in front of Mark and threw up a hasty Protect barrier.
Shadow Ball slammed into the shimmering Protect barrier, sending ripples of green light shuddering outward like a wave on the surface of water. For a moment, the dark energy struggled against the shield, then with a violent implosion it dispersed into wisps, leaving the shield cracked but intact.
“Shadow Ball, ah, so a Ghost/Flying? I like it!” Mark pulled an empty Pokeball off his belt, and tossed it in the air a few times to get familiar with the weight.
Noibat had used the smoke from the explosion as a cover to take flight from her crevice and was circling above them at the very top of the cave ceiling.
“Shelgon, blast the fucker out of the sky!”
Shelgon concentrated his dragon fire into a burning hot buish-white ball, and shot it at Noibat, who retaliated with another Shadow Ball.
The two spheres met and collapsed on each other in a loud explosion that rocked the cave and caused dust to rain down from the ceiling. Mark let out an appreciative whistle at the show.
“Oh yeah, I definitely want this one.”
Sure, it was just a weird “modern” take on Crobat, but who cared? Every team needed a flyer, and Shelgon wouldn’t be able to fill that role for a long while.
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Shelgon let out a gout of Dragon Breath, but missed by a mile, as Noibat dodged away.
“Only use your best attacks when you’ve got a guaranteed shot, otherwise try to stick with Ember. It’s more projectiles, more area, it’s like buckshot. Not quite an air burst, but it’s what we’ve got.”
“Shell.”
Noibat zipped through the air, gracefully weaving between rocky stone stalactites hanging from the cave ceiling. Then, diving low and banking sharply to the side, her wings blasted a gust of wind as she unleashed an Air Cutter. Crescent-shaped blades of compressed whistled as they sliced toward Shelgon, but the Dragon didn’t even flinch, he just hunkered down and let the attack scrape against his armored shell. Then, with a growl, he returned fire.
Literally.
He fired off a rain of fiery bullets after the bat, each exploding on impact, carving out small chunks of the ceiling, and causing stalactites to fall to the ground. Noibat avoided the fire expertly, dancing from cover to cover.
Shelgon fired off several more Embers, but Noibat expertly avoided them by abusing every inch of cover the uneven ceiling provided.
A dark ball of shadow shot down from above and exploded against a green barrier as Protect snapped into existence, causing Mark to click his tongue in annoyance. Since when were aircraft able to use cover?
“SHATTER THEIR SKIES!”
At Mark’s vague command veiled as an outdated reference, Shelgon poured dragon fire from his mouth, and concentrated it in front of him with as much Dragon TE as he could pack into it without the ball exploding in his face, and shot it off like an artillery round.
The move that looked an awful lot like Dragon Pulse, but was nowhere near stable enough to be called that, shattered the cover that Noibat had been hiding behind, and shook the entire cave.
The bat twisted away, trying to avoid the explosion, but was knocked into a tailspin. She plummeted for a few feet, before her wings snapped open again, and she began circling rapidly to bleed off speed.
“Ember! Anti-Air that fucker!”
Noibat tried to hide, but most of the good hiding spots had been blasted away. An ember grazed her wing, pain flared and her momentum faltered for a second, meaning the next hit was even cleaner. Another struck her side, then several more, the explosions sending her tumbling. She beat her wings hard and twisted mid-air, trying to regain control as three more shots pelted her, but Shelgon was relentless.
A piercing shriek echoed around the cave, the worst mix of nails on a chalkboard and clanging metal that bounced off the walls and slammed into your eardrums repeatedly like a hammer. Supersonic.
Shelgon growled, staggering as the disorienting sound rattled through its armored skull.
Mark was hit much worse, he fell to his knees, clutching his ears in pain, and for a horrible few seconds he was on the outskirts of DC again, laying comatose in a waterlogged foxhole, with his ears and body ringing from an artillery round that had struck the earth above.
Noibat took her chance, rocketing downwards, and slamming into Shelgon’s side with a brutal Wing Attack. The impact was enough to make the dragon slide backward, claws digging shallow trenches into the rocky floor.
He hadn’t managed to get Portect up in time to stop that hit? How sloppy.
Noibat beat her wings and rocketed back up into the air. Or, she tried to at least. Shelgon was holding her talon in his mouth with a vindictive glee in his eyes.
“Noi-!”
Shelgon SLAMMED the bat into the ground with all the gentle fluff of a 35,000 pound cargo truck full of pillows careening off a cliff.
Then he did it AGAIN and AGAIN, thrashing the brittle flight capable body against the cold inevitable reality of the ground, in what was becoming a favorite unofficial move of his.
A second Supersonic blasted Shelgon at point blank, causing him to loosen his grip, and letting Noibat escape- but not before Shelgon could get a parting shot of Dragon Breath that completely crisped the bat’s entire left side.
“Speedy little fucker.” Mark forced out a painfully fake chuckle as he climbed back to his feet and brushed himself off. His hands were shaking ever so slightly, and although he was smiling, it was brittle and the usual cocky glint in his eye was missing.
“Shelgon, buddy.”
“Shel?”
Mark looked down at his partner with cold, lifeless eyes.
“Kill it.”
“Sh-Shel?”
Mark guestered to the vegetation in the cave, both the plants that were growing naturally, and the ones that had been dragged in from the outside.
“Burn the moss, burn the leaves, burn the logs, set it all on fire. Smoke rises, we’ll choke her out of the air.”
Shelgon nodded, and without hesitating, he turned and spewed blue flames as he was ordered.
The strategy was as effective as it was ruthless, and the fight from that point on quickly became one sided. The cave became filled with smoke, and the upper areas became completely unbreathable.
Noibat was faced with the unwinnable choice of staying up in the air, where she had the advantage, and slowly suffocating, or dropping down to ground level where Shelgon had a massive advantage in short range combat.
It wasn’t long before the Sound Wave Pokemon was hit with a devastating Take Down, and knocked to the ground, unable to fight.
Fragile, weak, broken, pathetic.
Noibat growled in frustration and tried to stand again, the Dragon in her veins raging against the humiliation, but she could barely even manage to get herself rightside up again, forget about trying to fly.
Boots crunched on rocks as the Human that had bested her walked over, and crouched down with a blaze of blue fire behind him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a paper.
[RARE KALOS POKEMON ON THE LOOSE! TOURIST OFFERS 1,000P REWARD AFTER BELOVED ‘MON RUNS AWAY!]
“This is you, right? Your last trainer was the rich dumbass who bought into Plasma’s stupid Pokeball-Imperialism bullshit, and released his collection expecting y’all to not run off, right?”
Noibat hissed and swiped at the offending picture of the man on the newspaper.
“That’s what I thought.” Mark clicked his tongue and pocketed the paper.
“Alright, you’re coming with me whether you like it or not. Don’t blame me, it’s because you were too weak to defend yourself, which is the fault of your last trainer. The question is where you’ll wind up going, so I’m going to make this as clear as possible.”
Mark extended his right rand and expanded a Pokeball.
“You go in this ball and everything goes back to normal. It’s the status quo option. I take you back to your original trainer, you go back to being a vanity statue in a gilded cage, and I walk away with a fat paycheck.”
“Noi!” Noibat hissed and swatted at the Pokeball, trying to get it away.
“The other option is that you come with me.”
Mark extended his other hand, and expanded a second Pokeball.
“I’m looking for a team. If you go in this ball, I’ll take you with me on my path to the top of the world. The path to do something that makes me into someone. I’ll have everything I could ever want, the world at my fingers, and the power to keep it from being taken from me. My only rule is that everyone fights, and no one quits- and that includes me. If you go in this ball, it’ll also include you.”
Noibat was quiet for a long time, looking between the two Pokeballs.
…
…
…
DING
-The Dragon King-
The night sky stretched wide, speckled with stars that shimmered between the dark silhouettes of swaying branches. The moon bathed the forest in silver light, casting soft shadows over the treetops.
Below, perched on a branch of an old oak, the small bird worked diligently. It was a Starly, weaving strands of grass and twigs into her nest. She had no eggs, but, well… maybe one day.
The forest was alive. Insects hummed, a distant Pokemon hooted, and the gentle creaking of wood echoed as trees swayed. The night air was cool, carrying the scent of damp earth and pine. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, and ruffled the birds feathers.
It was quiet, peaceful. And cold… and quiet?
Starly paused, suddenly realizing that the forest had gone quiet- and why was it so cold all of a sudden?
A set of ethereal jaws suddenly snapped shut underneath her, crushing her branch and nest, as the wailing of a dying human woman screamed in her ears.
The Starly shrieked in terror as she fell from the tree, flapping her wings erratically and bouncing painfully against the ground.
“HAUHAAaHAUhaAUA HAHHAUAHA!”
Haunter laughed like a maniac from its spot where Starly’s nest used to be, pieces of wood and bark falling from its fanged maw carelessly. Haunter swooped down and started lapping at the bird going into cardiac arrest, like a dog at its water bowl, quite literally feeding on its fear and negative emotions.
Around the campsite, everyone else was doing similar things to unwind and prepare for sleep.
Hellena was sewing small tears in her dress, with purple thread, while Shedinja dozed on its perch in her tangled hair… Well, it looked like it was asleep, but considering it was a stiff empty shell and had no muscles capable of moving, it was hard to tell at the best of times.
Shelgon sat on his haunches right next to the fire, letting the flames lick at his shell as he lorded over the clearing like a lion lazily watching his pride.
The Bidoofs worked in an undisciplined formation to put up Mark and Hellena’s tents, under Shelgon’s commanding gaze, and with a small book of picture instructions nearby.
And Noibat, the newest addition, cooed over a small mound of shiny rocks she had collected from the nearby area around the campsite. She stacked them nice and pretty, then laid down on top of them in a terrible imitation of Smaug- though Mark doubted anyone here would get the reference.
Mark watched the bat with a sharp eye. Letting her out of her ball so soon was a show of trust to buy favor, but he wasn’t dumb enough to ignore the very real possibility that the newly caught Pokemon could just run off. Despite his lax posture, leaning against a tree, his arm was tensed like a spring, with Noibat’s ball gripped tightly in his pocket, in case he needed to recall her in a snap moment.
But thankfully it looked like his newest party member wasn’t going to try anything funny. He must have impressed her enough to at least temporarily buy her loyalty, if not her trust quite yet.
A shrill electronic ringing shot through the clearing, causing everyone to startle, as Mark’s phone began to buzz. Hellena glared at him as she sucked on her bleeding thumb, and wiped her newly red needle on her dress, even Shelgon gave him the stink eye.
Mark apologized and silenced the device.
Then it rang again.
And again. And again, until Mark called the machine a slur and stomped off to answer the call, tossing a Pokeball to Hellena as he passed with a whisper to “watch the new one”.
Once he was a reasonable distance from everyone, Mark accepted the call and immediately started laying into whatever idiot was calling random numbers at midnight.
“I don’t know what you're selling, but I’m not interested! Fuck off and go waste someone else’s time.”
“Ah, mister Cross, I’m glad I kept calling. I was told you would be frustrated at being disturbed, and would be reluctant to pick up at first.”
Mark glanced around to make sure no one was in earshot before lowering his voice into a threatening edge.
“Who the Hell are you and how did you get this number? Don’t play dumb either, I haven't even had this phone for a week, so this can’t be some oopsy daisy happy accident.”
“I was given your contact by a mutual business friend of ours. I have a pet project, you see, and he said you would be a perfect fit for it. After hearing the news about Roark, I think he was onto something.”
Considering there was only a single person on this planet Mark could say he’d done any actual “business” with, and it was the same guy who he bought the phone from, it wasn’t that much brainwork to pin this on Mustermann.
It also didn’t take that much thinking to assume that this might be about a “hush hush” conversation topic.
“Ah, forgive me, I’m getting ahead of myself. My name is Norvin Croft, entrepreneur and one of the founding partners of the Veilstone gambling district. Granted I’m far from the largest stakeholder, but I like to believe it shows I have a good sense for business.”
“Alright Croft, let’s hear the sales pitch.”
“Straight to business, I see. Twice a year I host a tournament in Eterna city for up and coming trainers. It’s not technically a tournament, per say, because that would mean having to tightrope all of the suffocating League regulations, and would defeat the whole point. This event is for trainers to cut loose, play dirty, and give the crowd an experience you just can’t get at the official tournaments. No item limitations, no penalties for foul play, smack talking and trainer rivalries are encouraged. Usually we require at least two badges for someone to register, but after talking with Max, and watching everything that’s come out of Oreburgh, well, I think you would fit in wonderfully.”
“I’ve got to admit, I’m interested. Is there a prize pool?”
“Well of course, and a generous one at that. 8,000 and a surprise TM for the first place winner, 3,000 for second place, and 1,000 for the two third place tiers to fight over. That’s already more than what most small to medium sized tournaments will net the winners, but for you? I’m willing to give a free 1,000 for you to participate, and can guarantee an easy first round for you.”
“Well gee, you know what to say to get a guy hot under the collar.” Mark plopped down on a fallen tree log and leaned back with a fanged grin. “Now what’s the catch?”
“I want a show. The crowds have been thinning because things have been getting predictable, the same trainer has won the tournament four times in a row, and people want something new. I want a villain, a real bully, someone snarky and mean that the audience will love to hate and hate that they love. Having heard how you riled up Roark, I think you’d be a natural fit for the role.”
Mark turned the idea over in his head, considering the pros and cons. He’d have to make sure he couldn’t get in any major legal trouble for participating, but the money was good, the grand prize was mouth watering, and it would be good training.
“Can I count you in?”
“Do you even have to ask? Give me a time and a location.”
“Excellent.”
-Chapter End-
- A) Noibat was hinted at back in chapter seven, or “New World Blues: Ch 3”
- B) Supporters who submitted character requests, they’re coming up in the story. I think it’s obvious what I’ve been saving ’em for.
- C) PLEASE! Comment and give feedback! I read all of them and I LIVE on that stuff!
*Sips Hot Chocolate*
A giant thanks to the generous people who help get these chapters out faster, and get early access to a chapter ahead of what's out for the public, as thanks and to suggest changes.
The members of the Shadow Government, who funnel taxpayer funds directly into my corrupt wallet! Long may they reign!
JackHammer! (The Jeweled Smasher), Helios (The Honored!), MidnightHydro! (The Mighty!), 0RB! (The 0pulant!), Nuckles222 (The Nuclear Threat!), Rom Hack (The Robotic Housekeeper!), Indyk (The Insatiable Imperial!), NickPine (The Nefarious!), Turquoise (The Toxic Terror!), Signal (The Succulent), Kentucky (The King Jingoist), and Richy (The Royal)
The Champions! Leading the fight!
Nvsoulsborne, ShelDrake, Gage Donaldson , Thrawn, Wolfwind01010, Punchlinex7, Teltaios, Gabryel Scott, and Koi!
The Dollar Army! Marching with honor and glory!
Eledu, Blue_port, WiseKitsune, Alex Estrugo, Jaydon Adams, Elenium935, Max Buckner, Spam2Spam, GrimDeathKnight, Hamza Abfallah, SonicDJM, EngineerLife24, Prince of Ruin, SILENGE, DerHochi, Savage Scorpion, Summers Mori, Jerome Francis Lucasan, James C, SDA SPO, Red, The Muffin Rat King, Jesse Brion, HeavenlyReader23, Sean, TY Kelly, and Николай Корома!
And a special SPECIAL thanks to :
NickPine, MidnightHydro, and Eternal Guard!
Who have chosen to sub to the highest “Humanitarian” tier which I put up after my Bank got hacked and I lost a lot of money. Thay have literally kept me on my feet and let me pay bills.
Thank you all so much, you are my Heroes.