章 53: Battle under Mt. Moon
The interior of Mt. Moon was more or less what one would expect from a cave.
Stalactites and mites were everywhere, ranging in every size up to as big around as even a Snorlax. And between them were the numerous paths that had been worn into the Rock and dirt by hundreds of trainers and Pokemon that had passed through here before now.
One thing that caught my eye even in the low lighting, was that numerous trainers that had passed through here had also graffitied almost the entirety of the rock wall surfaces.
DonnaXLarry4ever
Blue rulez Red droolz
Dawson was here
Ketchums R lozerz!
Such messages and more littered the cave sides and ceiling, either painted on or carved into the Rock itself. And while part of me wanted to look around and examine them, I had to smother that urge for the time being to focus on why I was here to begin with.
I grabbed three of my Pokeballs and activated them, releasing Grovyle, Exeggutor and Combee all at once.
"Ok, here's the plan! Exeggutor, you stay with me and try to use Flash. Grovyle is our scout, cling to the walls and ceiling and let me know if there anything to be aware of up ahead. Especially look out for passages filled with spores from the Paras. Combee will use her Gust to clear any of those passages if we find them, and she'll be the one to beat any Paras we come across. Got it?"
"Tor!"
"Bee bee!"
"..."
All three acknowledged my orders in their own way as Grovyle jumped up and clung to the ceiling, before he crawled down the main passage way.
Exeggutor and Combee meanwhile both fell into place behind me, and Riolu took point as we followed Grovyle further into the cave system.
For a while everything was pretty straight forward, for the most part. Other than a couple chambers that were filled with Paras and their spores, which I had Combee clear out, we encountered no trouble while steadily approaching the auras that belonged to Team Rocket.
"Hold it!" I whispered when two of them were right around the corner, calling Grovyle back while returning Combee to her Pokeball. Exeggutor also stayed back a little ways since he wasn't really the sneaking type, so it was just Grovyle, Riolu and I going ahead as we tried to spy on the Rocket members.
"You know you shouldn't damage the goods like that." One said irritably.
"ZEEEEEEE!"
"You know, you should shut it. They're not gonna care about a worthless little Zubat like this anyways. There's like a million of the little vermin around here." The other snapped, before there was another cry of pain from a poor Zubat.
My eye twitched as I could feel the fear and pain the Zubat was in, but I couldn't just rush out there recklessly.
So instead, I picked up a pebble and tossed it out to clatter on the stone floor.
"!!!"
"What was that!?" The first one asked alertedly while spinning around.
"Probably just a Pokemon." The second one answered dismissively.
The first one however stepped towards our position carefully with a Pokeball in each hand, one I presumed was empty, and the other probably had a Pokemon inside in case he needed to fight.
Riolu, Grovyle and I were silent as we watched him warily inch closer to our position, before passing us slowly as he followed the direction of the pebble I tossed.
As his back was turned towards me I slowly crept forward as quietly as possible until I was right behind him, before wrapping one arm around his neck while clamping my other hand over his mouth.
The Rocket struggled and fought against my hold in vain as I choked off his airway, dropping the Pokeballs in his hands as he did so without activating the one. Thankfully Riolu caught them so they didn't make a sound.
I picked the Rocket up off the ground and dragged him away from the other one towards Exeggutor, who's eyes lit up to use Hypnosis. I looked away to ensure I didn't get hit by the move as well, as the Rocket went limp in my arms as he lost consciousness.
With the first one down for the count, I hurriedly removed any Pokeballs and weapons he had on him before using a zip tie to tie his wrists and ankles together. And once he was bound I had Exeggutor use his psychic power to hold the man up off the ground for me.
"Now the next one." I mouth to Riolu and Grovyle, who nodded slowly in acknowledgement.
Together the three of us crept over the remaining Rocket, who was sitting on a rock with his back towards us as he twirled a couple of knives through his fingers.
"ZEEEEE!"
"That's a nice scream." The Rocket sneered at a little Zubat that he was literally torturing.
Not only were all Zubat naturally blind, but the Rocket had somehow cut the membrane of its wings so that it couldn't even fly away. Instead, it was desperately trying to climb the rock face to get away from the Rocket that was terrorizing it, only to be knocked down again by a small rock or knife that was thrown at it.
I tried to keep myself as calm as possible as I approached the Rocket, knowing that I only had to deal with him before I could get the little Zubat the help it needed to heal its wings.
When I was only a step away from the man though, I paused as there was a shift in his nauseating aura.
"Aha!" The man cried as he suddenly swung around with a knife in his hand to slash at me, though I deftly dodged the attack with ease.
"Oho? Not bad~! But you'll have to be a BIT better to get the drop on me!" The Rocket sneered at me.
"..."
I just remained silent though, as I felt no need to respond to his insanity.
And he WAS insane. The sickly greens and purples threaded within the malicious blacks was a clear indicator of that. But then again, I didn't need aura to tell that a guy torturing a Zubat for fun was insane.
The guy then flipped the knife in his hand to a reverse grip in order to make another swing at me, but I effortlessly caught his arm and twisted his wrist.
"Gah!"
*clatter!*
The knife fell to the ground as I knocked it from his hand, clattering against the Rock floor.
"What the-!" The guy uttered in surprise, before my fist met his face, and he lost consciousness.
"Exeggutor." I called out, and my Pokemon answered as he lumbered towards us before hoisting the guy up into the air as well.
I quickly bound his wrists and ankles like the first guy, and made sure he didn't have any more weapons or Pokemon on him before turning my attention to the frightened and injured Zubat.
"You're ok now." I tried to tell it in a reassuring voice, channeling my aura at it in an attempt to calm it down.
"Zu Zu!" The Zubat cried out fearfully.
"I'm not going to hurt you, the bad man is gone." I said to it calmly.
Though it took a few minutes, I eventually got the Zubat to calm down enough that I could approach it. As I did so, I held my arm out before the Pokemon.
"Here. Drink."
The Zubat, which I now recognized was a female, looked at me confusedly from my offer. Well, as confused as a fuzzy blue bat with no eyes could look.
"Drink." I told her again, before the Zubat hesitantly sank her fangs into my arm, and used the move Leech Life.
Leech Life was the bug type variant of the Absorb moves, which Zubat was using now to heal herself as she drained my blood.
Thankfully she didn't take too much blood, since her body wasn't that big, and the little blue bat soon released my arm after taking what she needed. It wasn't enough to completely repair the damage to her wings, but she had stopped the bleeding by this point, and could begin healing.
I then quickly took an alcoholic wipe out of my bag and wiped down my arm, since Zubat were known for carrying diseases.
"Zu Zu!" Zubat declared as if offended, probably knowing what I was doing from the smell of the alcohol.
"Just a precaution." I told her with a wry smile, before grabbing one of my other Pokeballs.
"Taaank." Miltank lowed in greetings as she appeared.
"Miltank, can you take this Zubat back to the Pokemon Center? Her wings were cut and ripped, and she needs treatment."
Miltank looked over Zubat and her injuries herself before looking to me seriously and nodding her head in affirmation.
"Tank!"
"Good. Do you need a guide?"
"Milk!"
"Oh? Ok then." I replied as Miltank stated she could just follow the scent of fresh air to the surface.
I then picked Zubat up carefully and set her on top on Miltank's head, where she wrapped what remained of her wings around her horns.
"Keep her safe Miltank."
"Tank!" Miltank declared while raising her hoof in a salute, before dropping to all fours and trotting in the direction of the exit.
I watched them leave until I couldn't see them anymore, though I could still feel their auras as they wove through the caverns.
"Let's go." I said to Riolu and the others.
"Ri!"
"Tor!"
"..."
***
"Team three, report."
"All good here."
"Team six, report."
"Caught a lot of Pokemon, over."
"Team twelve, report."
"..."
"Team twelve, report."
"..."
Petrel frowned as the silence from team twelve dragged on.
He was a tall and thin young looking man with purple hair shaved short on the sides, and curled up on the top with a short beard. Currently his usual casual smile was nowhere to be found as one of his teams failed to report in.
For two minutes the silence continued until he gave the order,
"All teams sound off."
"Team one testing."
"Clear."
"Team two testing"
"Clear."
"Team three testing."
"Clear."
"..."
"Team four, do you read me?"
"..."
"Team four?"
"..."
"All teams return to our rendezvous point."
"""Copy!"""
With at least two teams going silent, Petrel wasn't taking any chances as he gave the order for them all to meet up, and make their exit.
This was not a do or die mission, there was nothing valuable enough in Mt. Moon to warrant that. So Petrel had no qualms about pulling out early if something was happening to his men.
"Sir! I think I heard something! There's someone-"
And just like that the radio went silent, confirming what Petrel was worried about as he hastened his steps.
"All team return, NOW!" Petrel ordered into his radio, going as fast as he could without going into a full out run.
"Team one rep-"
"I heard someth-"
"Sir-!"
One by one Petrel listened as his men called for help, only to be silenced immediately afterwards.
It wasn't just on the radio though, as Petrel was sure he could hear the sounds of battle through some of the different passages he passed on his way to the rendezvous point. Though they would all fall silent again seconds later.
"Is anyone there?"
"..."
"Report!"
"..."
Over and over again Petrel tried to reach someone, but now no one was responding at all. He immediately believed they had all been taken out, until...
"..."
"What was that?" Petrel demanded when he thought he heard something through the radio.
"I'm coming for you, Petrel."
At that moment a voice Petrel had never heard came over the radio. A voice that knew him by name.
Any calm that had been left in Petrel's body fled at that moment, as he literally sprinted down the underground passage to the rendezvous point, no longer caring if anyone else made it there or not.
"!!!"
Petrel flinched as he thought he heard something behind, so he instinctively grabbed one of the Pokeballs on his belt and threw it behind him.
"Slow them down Raticate!"
"Rati-CATE!"
A pained cry from his Pokemon told Petrel that it had probably already been defeated, and that whoever was after him was rapidly closing in on him.
"Go! Golbat and Weezing!"
"GOLLLLLLL!"
"WEEEEEEEZ!"
Both Pokemon cried out as they appeared and prepared to do battle.
Petrel glanced back at them even as he continued running when no sounds of battle could be heard though, and was horrified to see that both of his poison type Pokemon were enveloped in a telekinetic energy from a psychic type move.
With even those two being taken out Petrel ran as fast as he could through the tunnels, not caring about any hazards or obstacles that might have been in his way. His only goal was to escape as quickly as possible.
Thankfully he soon arrived at the cavern where they had set up their base during their mission to scour the mountain for valuables, and where a single member of his team was left as they waited for him.
"Executive Petrel! What's going on?" The man asked, apparently having not heard all the commotion over the radios.
"Never mind that! Get us out of here!" Petrel ordered with borderline hysteria, making the man hurry to follow his orders.
At that moment though Petrel felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up on end, prompting him to instinctively duck right as something flew over his head.
*Boom!*
The item hit the rock wall on the other side of the cavern before exploding in a cloud that quickly enveloped the only other remaining team member.
Petrel watched as the man quickly collapsed as he lost consciousness, a single Pokeball rolling out of his hand as he did so.
*POP!*
"Abra!" The Pokemon within called out as soon as it appeared.
"Get me out of here!" Petrel ordered it, which the Abra readily complied as it teleported over to Petrel's side, before both of them vanished into thin air.
***
"Damn.." I swore as the Team Rocket executive escaped, even though we had managed to subdue and capture nearly thirty of his operatives.
I glanced back at Exeggutor, who was straining from trying to hold all of the Rocket members we'd caught with his psychic power. He was even more tired after he'd helped us beat some of their Pokemon, like the Weezing and Golbat back there.
Regardless of how tired he was getting though, he never asked for a break. I knew Exeggutor understood this was a perfect opportunity to train his psychic powers even more.
Despite that I decided to hurry as we looked around the room for anything important before we left.
I had already looted numerous valuable items from the numerous grunts that we had defeated, such as moon stones and fossils. But by the time I had finished looking through the cavern where all their supplies and loot until now was gathered, I had a few dozen more moon stones, on top of numerous fossils that mostly included helix fossils, dome fossils, and ambers.
I was also surprised to find a few root fossils, armor fossils, claw fossils, and skull fossils. They all made a little bit of sense though since they were typically found in the Hoenn and Sinnoh regions, which were closer to Kanto compared to Galar, Kalos, Alola, and Paldea.
The one that genuinely surprised me to find though was a jaw fossil, which belonged to the Tyrunt line that was usually only found in the Kalos region.
Needless to say I couldn't wait to have them all revived in the future, but it would probably have to wait a while until I could properly strengthen the Pokemon I already had, and would acquire in the near future.
After all, I wasn't going to live my life in this world like the game where only a few Pokemon were a part of my team, and the rest were sentenced to forever living in the storage box.
Soon I had looted everything I wanted from the cavern, finders keepers and all that. But there was one thing that worried me. Something that I had seen on a few of the Pokemon the Rockets used to battle against me.
Laying on one of the tables they had set up, was a collar with a black box on it that sported a big red R. But I recognized that collar, it was the same one that had been on the Houndoom that attacked May, Dawn and I all those years ago.
I had all but forgotten about the collar until I saw them on the Pokemon that were being sent to battle us. And if I was reading the auras of those Pokemon, as well as the remote next to the collar I was looking at correctly, they were designed to control the Pokemon wearing them against their will.
It made sense of course if you thought about it.
Team Rocket specialized in stealing people's Pokemon from them, but there was one giant flaw in their logic. Pokemon were beings with wills and minds of their own, no matter how much like animals they appeared.
So it would only be natural that Team Rocket would develop something that would allow them to control the Pokemon they stole instead of risking them turning on their agents.
With such an invention in their hands, I quickly collected all of them I could find throughout the cavern. Not for my own use of course, but to send to professor Oak to study and find a way to counter them.
When that was done I turned to my Pokemon, who were looking at the other things in the cavern curiously, and said,
"Alright then, you guys ready to get back?"
"Ri!"
"Torrr..."
Riolu declared while Exeggutor groaned from the strain, and Grovyle remained silent as always.
The latter two then took the lead as we started to head out, when I suddenly sensed something.
Though we had captured every single Rocket agent in Mt. Moon, aside from Petrel, I could still feel several aura signatures belonging to people within the mountain, other trainers who were training or passing through it.
One such aura was saturated with fear and anxiety, making me worry that something happened to the person it belonged to. And as much as I wanted to return to the Pokemon Center and the bed waiting there for me, I was in fact a Ranger.
"Exeggutor, Grovyle. You guys think you'll be able to get back on your own?" I asked the two of them.
"..." Grovyle of course said nothing while nodding his head in affirmation.
"Tor!" Exeggutor exclaimed with more vigor than he'd had in a while.
"Good. Riolu and I will catch up in a bit." I told them before turning in the direction I could feel the aura coming from, and calling out Combee as I did so.
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Harry_Dresden
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