บท 13: Chapter 13
After a day in Pewter City, spent mostly playing with the two new baby Pokemon and the little Pichu, the group departed for Mount Moon early next morning.
The Invigilator of the Trivia Event turned out to be Assistant Mayor of the Pewter City, as well as an Ace Trainer of the current Kanto Champion's Ace Squad.
Aizen calmly accepted the hospitality of the city, and refused to give any interview or make a public statement. He asked the Assistant Mayor to keep it quiet about his arrival in the region, who assured him that other than the League Organizers and Ace Squad, the news won't be revealed to anyone else.
He learned a lot about the upcoming projects of Pewter City, as well as how well the City was doing economically. He also met the Mayor who bid him his best wishes for the Indigo Conference and also asked for his opinions on the projects they were working on. By the end of the day, he was spent and went to sleep early.
The girls stared at the cave entrance of the Mount Moon and sighed. It was the only official and shortest route that connected the two cities directly.
"Let's go." Misty groaned at the idea of passing it again. "Hopefully, you will find the Zubat you are looking for." She glanced at Aizen before leading the way.
Things, however, turned out very different from what they expected.
"It is eerily quiet, isn't it?" Leaf muttered and looked around.
There were no signs of any pokemon. It was surprisingly strange since there were always Geodude, Clefairy, Diglett, Zubat, Sandshrew, and Paras around here. Mount Moon was famous for their high population.
"Was it like this when you travelled here?" Aizen frowned and asked Misty.
"No." She shook her head. "It was filled with Pokemon."
Even after a couple of hours, they did not come across a single pokemon.
"What do you think happened here?" Anira asked as she was looking at the Map on her PokeNav.
"Something that forced all the native pokemon to take refuge inside the hidden dungeon." Aizen grimly spoke.
He had his doubts on Poachers and criminal organisations. It was the only place in Kanto where Moonstone could be found, and the only home to Clefairy and Clefable in this Region.
He turned to looked at his little sister and saw her nod to him.
"We will take a look inside the dungeon." Aizen informed Leaf and Misty.
They were both surprised at his words, a little worried, but they understood that the Pokemon here might need their help.
"How will we find an entrance to it?" Misty asked.
"Leave it to me." Aizen assured them and took the lead.
He enchanced the field of his Aura Sight, that made his eyes light up in a blue hue, and simultaneously, he sent Psychic Waves in all directions.
They kept walking for a while before Aizen managed to find one of the entrances to the dungeon.
"Found it," He said and increased his pace a little. "Let's go."
He did not want to rush in and startle the Pokemon inside. So, he tried his best to use his Powers to convey sincere feelings to the Pokemon guarding the entrance from inside before moving away a boulder, and revealing the entrance hidden behind it.
The entrance was not obvious as it was still hidden under a natural optic illusion. The darkness around made it very hard for them to see clearly.
Soon they saw light, and a group of diglett and dugtrio on guard. It scared both Leaf and Misty the way they were being scrutinised by the Pokemon. Any confrontion with these pokemon here would be suicidal.
"Don't make the eye contact with any of them. They are pissed." Aizen whispered to the girls before walking inside the dungeon.
The Pokemon moved to the sides as he neared them and paved a path for him and the girls.
The dungeon was not dark as the girls thought it would be. It was not bright either, but they did not need their flashlights in this place. The walls of the dungeon were naturally illuminating a soft red light.
After travelling for a while in a narrow passage, they came to an opening that had six different passages for them to choose from.
They found a lot of Paras there, and a few sandshrew as well. They were all over the place.
"We need to see if the Clefairy and Clefable are safe." He told the girls. "I can't detect any signs of Fairy energy from here. So, we will have to guess which path to take."
"Let's take the middle-left." Anira made the call.
The path they chose led them to another opening after half an hour of travelling. Here, they found a lot of Sandshrew, a few Diglett among them, and Zubat sleeping on the ceiling.
On the other side were three passages leading to different directions, and they had to make a choice once more.
They came across every specie found in the Mount Moon except for the Clefairy. And after hours of travelling, they were all tired.
Aizen was sweating profusely, and his head throbbed a little. He was constantly using his powers to scan the area in search for the pink Fairies, and he was close to his limit now.
Seeing his state, the girls were worried, but stayed quiet. They had enough confidence in him that he would not act rashly, and they took a sigh of relief when he finally stopped walking and gestured them to take some rest.
"There are no signs of Clefairy here." Misty spoke as she sipped some water. "There are no signs of battle, and no humans in the dungeon as well." She munched on a chocolate bar to replenish her strength.
They had explored the place enough to reach this conclusion.
Anira had a frown on her face. She knew the scope of her brother's powers and she knew that things were not as simple as they seemed.
"Clefaires can not hide their life energies from us on their own." She muttered deep in thoughts. "Something strong is protecting them. Or..."
"No," Aizen shook his head. "There are no humans in the dungeon, so they are not using any devices to isolate the Clefairy. I don't believe that all the Fairies have been caught. So, your first assumption is highly possible."
Anira looked at the necklace on her brother's neck and took a sigh of relief. She knew that if worst came, Lyla will be there for them.
"Don't you guys find it strange that we have not come across a single Moonstone as well?" Leaf pointed out.
"Yeah," Misty nodded her head. "We should have seen some inside the dungeon."
"Clefairy must have picked them all before retreating to their hiding location." Aizen spoke tiredly and closed his eyes. " I am going to take a nap."
The girls smiled at seeing him peacefully fall asleep.
"He looks more handsome when he's sleeping." Misty blushed and commented.
Anira frowned at her words but did not say anything. She did not appreciate girls fawning over her brother, but she knew that Misty was not a fangirl, and they were friends .
It was something that was starting to get on her nerves, as it meant that the orange-haired girl would sooner or later fall madly for her brother. The way she would sneak glaces at him were not hidden from her.
"What are you thinking about?" Leaf saw Anira frowning and asked.
"Nothing!" She smiled brightly at her friend and leaned back before resting her head on her brother's shoulder. "We should get some sleep as well."
"I will keep the watch." Misty smiled and said.
"It will be fine. We don't have time to take turns. You should get some sleep too." Anira shook her head. "When brother wakes up, we will have to leave and find Clefairy. And I have a feeling that we need to be prepared for what we are going to witness."
Leaf nodded to her words without any questions, and Misty thought for a while before reluctantly yielding to her words and deciding to take a nap as well.
As soon as all of them fell asleep, the Pokeball on Aizen's necklace started shining in different lights. It returned to its normal platinum color soon after.
Peaceful dreams graced all of them.
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