“Resonance Caverns?” Jake repeated, his Pokédex held up to his right ear as he sat casually in the lobby of the Laba Dome at the Campus of the Tech and Psychic. “I’ve never heard of that place before, Mom,” he spoke into the device.
“Well, you have now, dear,” replied a female voice from the Pokédex. “Your father and I are investigating this recently discovered cave and tunnel network, uncovered by the latest storms. You see, one of the entrances is located near the sea, and the waves from the storm surge very quickly eroded the mud away to reveal one of aforementioned tunnels.”
“And let me explain a bit about the cavern itself,” interjected a rough yet excited male voice. “It’s named what it’s named—Resonance Caverns—because of its excellent, exceptional acoustics. The sound rings almost perfectly in any given location, but especially—oh, I’m telling you,
especially—in the large and spacious cave in the middle of it all. From the scans we’ve done of the cavern, you could hold a
concert in the central cave and fare well. Except, might I add, for the Zubat and Golbat that make the place their home. Yeah...they wouldn’t take too kindly to such a disturbance.”
“I would think not,” Jake chuckled at his father’s mention of Zubat and Golbat. “Thanks for the description, Mom and Dad. I kinda figured that Resonance Caverns’ name had something to do with its sound-accommodating abilities. Sounds like an interesting place! If I’m understanding correctly,” he continued, “you want me to travel down there with some of my Pokémon and take pictures of what I see? Since all the ‘visuals’ of the cavern that you have right now are sonar scans, and the last drone you sent got absolutely mauled by the cave inhabitants?”
“Correct.” On the other end of the call, Mom nodded, forgetting that the call was audio-only. “Please stay safe, alright? Take six Pokémon with you, but don’t send them all out at once. Give me a minute to beam the directions to the nearest tunnel entrance to your Pokédex, and then you may set out as soon as possible. Remember: be careful, take pictures when and where you can, and stay out of trouble. I advise you to bring Staraptor with you; I’m sure you can figure out why.”
“I know,” the young Aura Guardian assured his mother. “Staraptor for transportation. Shall I head out?” He got up from his seat and walked to the lobby’s Rotomi, pressing a few buttons with his left hand to withdraw his Pokéballs from the machine’s PC storage.
A soft
ding could be heard in the background of the call. “There goes the fastest route to Resonance Caverns!” remarked Dad. “When you open the navigation app on your Pokédex, the directions should be ready to start. We wish you luck on your trip. Have fun, Jake!”
“I will!” Jake replied. “See you later!”
“Once again, good luck!” the Trainer’s parents called, before hanging up.
The Aura Guardian closed his Pokédex and put it in his right pocket for the moment, as he stuffed his left pocket with Pokéballs. With that, he made for the Laba Dome exit and burst outside, reaching into his left pocket and tossing a Pokéball high into the air.
“Hey, Staraptor!” Jake greeted the unusually-colored-for-his-species Normal and Flying-type that appeared. Jake took his Pokédex out of his right pocket and waved it in the air. “Would you be willing to do me a favor and
Fly me to the entrance of Resonance Caverns? It’s unlikely you know where that is, so I’ll direct you.”
“Star, Star!” the avian Pokémon cawed affirmatively, flying down and settling on the ground for the Trainer to climb onto his back. Once Jake had secured himself as best he could, Staraptor took to the sky, Jake’s Pokédex beeping with its route guidance.
Several minutes later, Jake was climbing off his Pokémon’s back, brushing himself off as he stood in front of the entrance to what looked like a cave. “Thanks, Staraptor!” he exclaimed. “So this is one of the tunnels leading to Resonance Cavern, huh?”
“Raptor,” Staraptor chirped, intriguedly tilting his head.
The Aura Guardian took a few steps into the tunnel, his Pokédex still clutched in his gloved hands. “I wonder if this place is really as resonant as it seems—oh. No wonder,” he said, hearing his voice bounce off the different walls of the cave and return to his ears in a well-rounded and extended ring. “This is really curious. Maybe the composition of the rock walls has something to do with this, but before I try to think about that too much, I’ll take a picture.” With that, Jake took several steps backward, opened the camera app, raised his Pokédex to his eyes, and snapped a picture of the tunnel entrance, before putting the ‘Dex back in his pocket. “There we go.” The Trainer turned to Staraptor and took out the Predator Pokémon’s Pokéball. “Thanks again, Staraptor. Take a nice rest for now,” he advised, recalling the bird of prey contentedly into his Pokéball.
Now that Jake was ready to venture into the cavern itself, he took three different Pokéballs out of his pocket and tossed them into the air on different sides of him. A bright blue flash and a green reptilian Pokémon appeared on his left; another flash and a brown, blue, and white Pokémon sporting large claws appeared on his right; a third flash and a black, blue, and yellow lion-like Pokémon appeared directly in front of him.
“Tree...cko!”
“Drrrilbur!”
“Luuuux!”
Jake grinned at the Grass-type, the Ground-type, and the Electric-type that he had just sent out. “I have a feeling you’ll all do great here,” he told them. “Our job is to glean data of these Resonance Caverns by taking pictures and whatnot. Let’s go, shall we?” The young Aura Guardian motioned for Luxray to face forward, after which he climbed onto her back. He waved Treecko and Drilbur along as he rode into the tunnel, the former hopping onto his left shoulder for a better view and the latter scurrying over the rough ground ahead of her Trainer and Luxray with ease.
It wasn’t long before, after a few minutes of walking, the group of four came to a dead end. Met with a wall on all sides of him except the way he had just come, Jake motioned for Luxray to stop, brought out his Pokédex, and took a panoramic photo, storing the device away just as quickly as he had taken it out.
He turned to the Mole Pokémon. “Drilbur, burrowing is your forte, isn’t it?” he suggested. “I’ll put myself up against the wall and listen for activity. Be prepared to Dig a hole in the wall if I give the okay, since I’m sure this isn’t all there is to this cave. Sound good?”
“Dril,” Drilbur nodded, making a gesture with her left claws resembling a thumbs-up.
Luxray, however, gave a soft, high-pitched roar in objection. “Ray?”
“Ah, you want to help out with your X-ray vision, Luxray?” the Aura Guardian asked.
The Gleam Eyes Pokémon nodded.
Jake thought for a moment. “It would tire out your supply of electricity, though, wouldn’t it?” he pointed out.
“Lux,” Luxray agreed. “Ray, ray.”
True. I’ll leave it to you, then.
As Treecko made his way off Jake’s shoulder to allow him space, Jake got off Luxray's back, walked up to the wall in front of him, and laid himself against it, a faint blue glow becoming visible around him as he used his aura abilities to “see” past the tunnel wall. The glow wavered as the Aura Guardian focused for a few moments, before vanishing as he picked himself off the wall and turned back to his Pokémon.
Jake brushed himself off. “There’s a crossroads not far beyond this wall,” he reported. “Of the three paths, two of which are perpendicular to ours, only the path going straight forward seems to be of worth, from what I could gather. It’s just as well, since we were mostly going straight this whole time. Seems like this path caved in somehow.”
“
Heh, ‘caved in,’” the Wood Gecko Pokémon quipped. “
I see what you did there.”
The Trainer raised an eyebrow and smiled. “That’s a classic, Treecko,” he responded. “I didn’t even realize. Anyway,” he nodded to Drilbur, “are you ready?”
The natural-born digger clacked her burr-like claws. “
Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Then commence the
Digging!” Jake made a grand gesture of a wave as the Ground-type curled into a drill, rotating with great speed as she drove herself into a soft point in the cave wall. With a
whirr, she had, in a few seconds, made a sizable tunnel through the wall with her efforts.
“Drilbur, Dril!” Drilbur stood on the other side of the wall, calling and waving for Jake, Treecko, and Luxray to come join her.
After Jake and the other two Pokémon made their way through the hole, the four were, as the Aura Guardian had sensed, confronted with three possible paths to take. The crossroads was barely visible to the untrained eye in the hollow darkness typical of cave tunnels, but Drilbur possessed the vision to clearly see underground, and her Trainer used aura to navigate where his eyesight alone wouldn’t do the job. Regardless, the need for those abilities was quickly proven unnecessary when the Electric-type Pokémon produced a
Flash, the bright light illuminating the surroundings to a comfortable level. Treecko, meanwhile, merely perched on Jake’s shoulder once the Trainer had re-mounted Luxray. As was expected, the group continued down the middle path.
For what felt like hours, Jake and his Pokémon trekked down the tunnel, aura-scanning and digging through any walls in their way. When Jake scanned a particular wall that they had stopped at, however, he did not sense yet more pathway ahead of them; rather, a wide space like an auditorium, with a domed ceiling and multitudes of Zubat hanging from the side walls. Stranger than that was the Crobat flying in the center of the “hall”, facing a young Trainer and a crustacean Pokémon beside him.
The young Aura Guardian took out a Pokéball and recalled Luxray, thanking her for her assistance and motioning to his other Pokémon for silence, before continuing to observe beyond the wall. As he concentrated, he could pick up the speech of the mysterious Trainer and the Crobat.
“...never met a Pokémon so stubborn as this Crobat,” the Trainer was saying, regarding the Poison and Flying-type with contempt. “I can’t understand you, for Arceus’ sake! Accept that and give me the Egg, or you’ll experience quite the brutal defeat.”
“
‘For Arceus’ sake,’” the Crobat retorted in chatters, “
how many times do I have to tell you no? There is no Egg. Even if there were, I would never show it to you, much less give it to you. If it were so easy to defeat me, would I be in front of you right now?”
“Don’t know a word of what you’re saying, still,” snapped the Trainer. “Quit wasting my time. This is your last warning before I sic my Crawdaunt on you.”
“
More like I
warned you,” the Bat Pokémon hissed, making loop-de-loops in the air before summoning a Flying aura, swooping down and striking the Trainer’s Pokémon with
Acrobatics that sent the Crawdaunt barreling into the left wall.
“You dare make the first move?” the Trainer seethed. “We’ll see how you like getting wet! Crawdaunt, get up! Use
Bubble Beam!”
“CRAWWW!” bellowed the Water/Dark-type, opening its pincers and releasing a barrage of bubbles from them at the Crobat. The Poison/Flying-type was quick to retaliate, flapping its four wings to send a spray of golden homing stars at the Bubble Beam. The
Swift collided with the Water-type move, the two attacks neutralizing one another.
“Watching” and listening from his position behind the wall, Jake had gained three pieces of information from his observations. One, that this Trainer was the
same conceited boy who was after Jake’s Buizel and was a member of the sinister Team Aqua Rocket. Two, that the boy’s Corphish had evolved into a Crawdaunt. Three, that apparently, there was an Egg hidden in this cavern.
The way forward was obvious. Conversing quietly with Drilbur and Treecko, the Aura Guardian formulated a plan.
“Now, cut it off with
Aqua Jet!” the boy was saying.
Upon hearing its Trainer’s command, the Crawdaunt surrounded itself in a burst of water before charging at the Crobat at full speed—and bouncing harmlessly off the
Quick Guard the legless bat had erected to defend itself.
The mysterious Trainer huffed sarcastically while his Crawdaunt rolled back on the ground, grunting as it righted itself. “Taunt that loser—” he started to say, until he spotted the Bat Pokémon suddenly diving toward the Rogue Pokémon, a
Poison Fang attack aimed at it while it recovered. “
Night Slash then
Crabhammer!”
“Craw!” With a quick swipe of its right pincer, which glowed with Dark energy, Crawdaunt sliced its target across the face before it could sink its fangs into it. The crustacean Pokémon took the opening to then smack the Crobat with a water-cloaked
Crabhammer from its left pincer—“Daunt!”—slamming the airborne Pokémon into the wall farthest away from the wall that Jake and his Pokémon had been behind. As the Crobat slumped down the wall, momentarily dazed from the impact, the Crawdaunt rushed forward, using the Crabhammer claw to hold the four-winged bat’s body to the ground.
Scoffing haughtily, Crawdaunt’s Trainer walked over and glared at the part Flying-type struggling under his Pokémon’s pincer. “You aren’t so high and mighty now, are ya, foolish bat?” he teased. “Why, I’ll just leave you there until...until the Zubat feast on your traitorous flesh! Serves you right for daring to keep our Egg from us.”
The Crobat could do nothing at the moment but tremble indignantly, glaring right back at the foolish Trainer who thought he had won. The perceptive echolocator was by no means helpless, for she had sensed reinforcements.
Just what kind of reinforcements, exactly?
Meanwhile, the smug boy continued to rant in the Crobat’s face. “Oh, I can just imagine how delighted Crawdaunt here will be as he rips off chunks of—”
BLAM!
Something that at first glance looked like a drill exploded out of a hole that suddenly appeared under the Rogue Pokémon, yanking him upwards and causing him to roar in surprise. The Team Aqua Rocket Trainer whirled around, turning his back to the Crobat to see what in the Distortion World had just happened. The drill unfurled in midair, revealing the determined shape of a Drilbur. With the smack of her
Crush Claw, the Mole Pokémon spiked the Crawdaunt down into the ground, forming a crater in the dust. The Ground-type’s surprise attack was swiftly followed by a green Pokémon bursting out of the hole in a speedy blur, zooming through the air in a graceful arc to land a
Quick Attack on the Water and Dark-type. Once he had connected his attack, Treecko somersaulted his way back to his Trainer: none other than Jake Celeste, who had climbed quietly out of Drilbur’s hole and walked near the wall opposite the other Trainer before turning to face him. Drilbur herself had touched down safely on the ground next to the Crawdaunt, preparing for the inevitable counterattack.
The Crawdaunt’s Trainer narrowed his eyes at Jake. “I remember you,” he hissed. “We will not tolerate interruptions from meddling children like you. Crawdaunt, get up.”
“You know, you’re a child too,” Jake retorted. “And just as meddling, for that matter. Leave the Crobat alone and we’ll do the same to you.”
The boy snorted. “That’s so funny I forgot to laugh,” he sneered. “
Guillotine, now. On worthless baby number one. Two of those losers can't equal one of my winners.”
This guy has only gotten more annoying, huh, the Aura Guardian thought to himself. “Drilbur, use
Mud-Slap and dodge!” he called to his Pokémon. “Both of you, take it away!”
“Dril!” While the crustacean Pokémon clambered to his feet, pincers elongating with menacing white energy, Drilbur struck the ground in front of her with a claw, splashing a small torrent of mud in the Water/Dark-type’s face, taking the distraction to easily dash out of the way of the one-hit knockout move. At the same time, Treecko leaped into the air, whipping up a
Leafage around him and letting the attack loose at the Crawdaunt while he was wiping his mud-blinded face. The wind of leaves knocked the Rogue Pokémon off his feet and sent him skidding backward. Before Crawdaunt’s Trainer could call out another command, the Grass-type appeared between the boy and the Water/Dark-type with blinding
Agility,
Slamming into the Crawdaunt’s back with his thick tail and sending the red arthropod flying forward—right into Drilbur’s
Drill Run. Even as these events played out, however, the Team Aqua Rocket Trainer wore a smirk on his face; the reason was swiftly revealed.
With his sight cleared and his right pincer glowing with sharp Dark energy, the Crawdaunt had clamped onto the curled Drilbur using
Crunch, leaving the Mole Pokémon stuck in her drill form. Treecko was quick to follow up, electrifying his fists and striking the Crawdaunt with a
Thunder Punch, but the normally super effective Electric attack was rendered useless, the Ground-type acting as an insulator for the part Water-type.
Seeing a weakness in Jake’s supposed plan, the other Trainer seized what he thought was an opportunity. “More!” the boy called.
“Crawww!” revved the Water and Dark-type, squeezing the trapped Drilbur harder. The Wood Gecko continued trying to free his teammate by using various momentum-powered attacks, but to no avail: Crawdaunt was not budging.
Jake gritted his teeth. “Drilbur, hang in there!” he instructed. “Treecko, use
Giga Drain on Crawdaunt!”
As Treecko put his hands on Crawdaunt’s back, draining the crustacean’s energy with green glows of a Grass attack, the opposing Trainer scoffed. “I’m no fool,” he claimed. “I won’t let you get away with that! Crawdaunt,
Crabhammer on Treecko!”
“
Who won’t let
who get away with
what, now?” responded Jake. But even as he said that, Crawdaunt had already sprung into action. The Rogue Pokémon’s Dark energy-covered claw changed to become surrounded with Water energy instead, and it swung the claw directly into the Grass-type at full force, letting go of Drilbur and sending the two of Jake’s Pokémon careening into the wall behind Crawdaunt’s Trainer. The dust cleared, revealing a pained Drilbur and Treecko: the latter had even been critically hit by the Crabhammer in spite of his resistance to the move. Nevertheless, the two Pokémon got to their feet and glared defiantly at the Crawdaunt, who returned the glance with a foreign stoicity.
The battle was no longer between Jake and the Team Aqua Rocket Trainer. Now, it was between Drilbur and Treecko, and Crawdaunt himself. And if this meant an opportunity to knock Crawdaunt’s Trainer-sourced arrogance down a peg, then the Mole Pokémon and the Wood Gecko Pokémon would gladly take it.
“
We won’t take your crabby pride lying down, Crawdaunt,” Treecko stated calmly, arms crossed.
“
Take me lying down you won’t,” the part Dark-type sneered. “
No, the only place you’ll be taking me down is in your dreams
, you hear?” The lobster-like Pokémon lumbered closer to his opponents.
The Grass-type nodded discreetly to the Ground-type—“
Go,” he whispered in a barely audible tone—before tensing…and immediately jumping out of the way of the
Aqua Jet the Crawdaunt had transitioned into without warning, while Drilbur burrowed silently into the ground. Backflipping and landing his feet on the wall behind him, Treecko charged his fists with electricity, pushed off, and met the Aqua Jet with another
Thunder Punch. The two attacks fizzled violently, the Electric-type move sending tendrils of lightning through the Water attack, before releasing a shockwave that separated them. Both Pokémon landed on their feet, exerting themselves.
The Crawdaunt summoned water around himself as he prepared another
Aqua Jet attack, but it seemed that Treecko was barely reacting, continuing to stand calmly in his place opposite the Water and Dark-type. Trying to exploit what he thought was a slow reaction time (when it was in fact quite the opposite), Crawdaunt rushed forward in the torrent of water—only to clang uselessly against the Wood Gecko Pokémon’s
Quick Guard move and tumble back onto the ground. Rubbing his sore front, the Rogue Pokémon groaned, muttering “
Not another
one,” but was cut short from saying more by the oddly drill-like shape that erupted from beneath him at that very moment: Drilbur, landing her
Dig attack.
As the crustacean Pokémon was launched into the air once again, Treecko aimed from his place on the ground and let loose a round of
Bullet Seeds that peppered the Crawdaunt with the super effective attack. Quicker to respond than the last time he was thrown skyward—or, ceiling-ward—by Drilbur, Crawdaunt fired a
Bubble Beam at the Bullet Seeds, repelling them as he fell down toward the Grass-type. As the Rogue Pokémon neared, Treecko stopped his attack to concentrate on meeting the attack that his opponent would surely strike him with…only to realize in horror that the Crawdaunt’s pincers were elongating with a white glow as he pointed them at the seemingly trapped Wood Gecko. The situation had seemed hopeful… Treecko thought he could hear a voice in his mind, echoing in slow motion,
Wrong move. There’s no escape now…
The green reptile adjusted his stance and held his hands upward, concentrating on holding back the weight of the lobster-like Pokémon that was about to crash on top of him; Treecko’s hands glowed with what looked at first to be a Giga Drain attack in a last-ditch effort. As if the circumstances were too dire, the sound of a plop on the ground from Drilbur, and a subsequent glow of bright blue light, went unnoticed by the other two battling Pokémon, and by extension, Crawdaunt’s Trainer.
A sudden burst of light pierced the air of the spacious cave. Fearing the worst and expecting the best respectively, Jake and the Team Aqua Rocket Trainer looked on through the cloud of dust that had been kicked up. As it cleared, yet another bright blue light could be seen.
Mind racing, the young Aura Guardian assessed what had just happened while Crawdaunt was falling toward Treecko. Everything had felt like a blur, but Jake could figure it out now: seeing her teammate in danger, the Mole Pokémon had instinctively summoned a
Flash Cannon attack to blast the Water/Dark-type out of the Grass-type’s path. Things escalated quickly as Drilbur triggered her evolution sequence to boost the Steel-type move. The Flash Cannon had collided, resulting in the Crawdaunt careening through the air in an arc and smacking into the ground, creating another crater and acting as the source of the dust cloud. And as it turned out, the glow of Treecko’s hands was not from Giga Drain, but rather his own evolution sequence, the light of which was still enveloping his entire body. Oh, I forgot to mention that Drilbur’s evolution was still in progress, too.
Processing the events that had transpired and were still transpiring, the two Trainers watched in awe as the two of Jake’s Pokémon changed form, toughening and growing, before emerging from the light at the same time in twin bursts of sparkles.
“Ex…ca…DRIIIIILL!” came the cry of the
, who now sported sharp steel claws and a brand-new drill over her forehead.
Simultaneously, the now leaf-crested
gave a roar as he brandished the three new leaves on each of his wrists. “GROOOOvyle!”
The newly evolved Pokémon’s bellowing their species names reminded their Trainer to take his Pokédex out of his pocket. Jake scanned both the part Ground-type and the Grass-type in quick succession, rapidly scrolling through the lists of their moves.
Excadrill, the Subterrene Pokémon and the evolved form of Drilbur. A Ground and Steel-type. It can help in tunnel construction; its drill has evolved into steel strong enough to bore through iron plates.
Grovyle, the Wood Gecko Pokémon and the evolved form of Treecko. A Grass-type. The leaves growing out of Grovyle's body are convenient for camouflaging it from enemies in the forest. This Pokémon is a master at climbing trees in jungles.
Closing his Pokédex and putting it back in his pocket, Jake nodded at his Excadrill and Grovyle. “We still have a battle going on,” he reminded them. “You ready?”
The two Pokémon responded with a simultaneous, determined nod.
Meanwhile, the other Trainer was shaking his fist in anger and frustration. “Craw—Crawdaunt, get them!” he roared. “I don’t care how you do it, just get those cheaters out of here!”
“CRAWWW!” the Rogue Pokémon, who had recovered while Excadrill and Grovyle were busy evolving, roared in affirmation. Charging forward, Crawdaunt cloaked his claws in Dark energy, threatening to
Crunch his opponents into pieces.
Jake simply grinned. “Excadrill, Grovyle, you know what to do,” he instructed. “Excadrill, use
Rototiller! Grovyle, meet Crawdaunt with an
X-Scissor into
Fury Cutter! Let’s finish this from there!” Having just called for some newly-learned moves of his Pokémon’s, the Aura Guardian gestured confidently at Crawdaunt and his raging Trainer.
With that, the battle continued.
As Excadrill sank her claws into the ground, releasing a controlled shockwave through the cave floor that invigorated the Grass-type in the battle, said Grass-type prepared himself, feeling his Attack and Special Attack stats be raised. He then moved nimbly toward his opponent, his six wrist leaves merging into two as they glowed with Bug energy. Once he was close enough to Crawdaunt, which was not far, Grovyle quickly slipped in between the crustacean Pokémon’s menacing pincers and cross-cutted Crawdaunt up the front before he could react, launching the Water/Dark-type a short ways into the air. The reptilian Pokémon flowed smoothly into his Fury Cutter attack, juggling the Crawdaunt with repeated chops of his two still-glowing wrist leaves. As the hits grew stronger and stronger, the Rogue Pokémon was flung higher and higher, until finally Grovyle spiked him into the opposite wall.
The dust cleared, revealing a Crawdaunt stuck in the wall…who shook himself off and got back on his feet. Shakily, but still on his feet nonetheless. At this, Crawdaunt’s Trainer smirked.
“My Crawdaunt’s withstood everything you’ve thrown at it thus far,” the boy bragged. “You’re not going to win.” As he spoke, his Pokémon summoned another
Crabhammer attack and headed for Jake’s Pokémon once more.
Surprised as he was that Crawdaunt was still standing after a super effective hit from a full-powered Fury Cutter from a Pokémon with boosted Attack, Jake didn’t let that bother him. “Grovyle, let Excadrill handle this!” he called, after which the Wood Gecko Pokémon nodded and cartwheeled out of the way of the Crabhammer. “Excadrill, go in with
Metal Claw!”
“Drill!” With a grunt, the Subterrene Pokémon’s claws glowed with a silvery sheen as she stood her ground and jabbed them into her opponent’s move. With small bits of dust kicking up here and there as the Ground/Steel-type and the Water/Dark-type grappled, Excadrill kept Crawdaunt at bay as best as she could. But even with her newfound power and Crawdaunt’s waning strength, Excadrill was slowly being pushed back: Metal Claw just couldn’t compare to Crabhammer.
And the Team Aqua Rocket Trainer knew this. “
Bubble Beam, now!” he shouted.
“Quick, use Dig!” Jake ordered in response, but Excadrill wasn’t quick enough. With a barrage of bubbles let loose from his opened pincers in close vicinity, Crawdaunt blasted his opponent back, who tumbled onto the ground near her Trainer.
The other Trainer grinned. “Finish it off with a
Night Slash!” he commanded.
With a vicious grunt, the Rogue Pokémon made his claws into Dark blades and moved in on the momentarily stunned Ground and Steel-type, ready to deliver the finishing blow.
But he never got there.
In a trail of green Grass energy, Grovyle zoomed in and met Crawdaunt’s Night Slash with a newly-learned
Leaf Blade, pitting one merged wrist leaf against one glowing claw, and the other against the other respectively. Straining against the crustacean Pokémon’s move, the evolved Grass-type starter Pokémon became enveloped in a green aura, powering up his attack from the
Overgrow Ability that had activated. The battle was well and truly nearing its end.
Using his Leaf Blade attack that was powered up several times over, Grovyle steadily pushed Crawdaunt back and away from the Excadrill that had recovered enough now. With a glance back at his teammate, the Wood Gecko nodded, mouthing
Do it. just before Crawdaunt threw him aside from the momentary loss of concentration.
Taking the cue, the Subterrene Pokémon focused what remaining energy she had left into the drill on her head, which elongated and glowed a silvery white. With her
Horn Drill primed and ready, Excadrill pushed off from the ground behind her, hurtling toward the Crawdaunt. If no other attack could defeat him, then there was only one option left.
She collided with Crawdaunt’s elongated pincers that were also glowing white. The Horn Drill fought the
Guillotine; one one-hit knockout move fought another. The two Pokémon grunted and pushed, knowing that the dragged-out battle ended right now and here.
A distinct, short exclamation echoed through the air from one of the Pokémon. The immense energy that had been contained in the two attacks had built up and released, emitting a powerful shockwave that blasted Excadrill and Crawdaunt back toward their respective Trainers. Once again, a large dust cloud filled the air, everyone else covering their faces as they waited to see the final outcome.
Finally, the dust cloud faded. Both of the Pokémon that were involved in the clash were spread on the ground, unable to battle. But while both Excadrill and Crawdaunt were unable to battle, only Excadrill remained conscious: the Water and Dark-type had been knocked out cold. The Horn Drill really was the last straw.
The Ground and Steel-type looked up weakly at the finished battle scene, satisfied as she saw the opposing Trainer angrily recalling his Pokémon. The boy stormed past Excadrill, the still able-to-battle Grovyle, and Jake, heading for one of the side walls where the young Aura Guardian had only just spotted the barely visible exit. The Team Aqua Rocket Trainer had not gotten to the exit before the Crobat from earlier, long freed from the Crawdaunt’s hold, zipped over and blocked his way.
“Out of my way, you old bat,” the Trainer spat, to which Jake was tempted to reply “Old?” but didn’t, but to which the Bat Pokémon remained eerily silent.
Sighing, the Team Aqua Rocket Trainer apologized. “Sorry for saying all those mean things to you,” he grumbled. “Sorry for taunting you and whatnot. Now let me go.”
The Poison/Flying-type tilted her head, before sharpening her gaze and then flying back to near the back wall. Taking the opportunity to run from the scene, the Trainer reached the wall he was heading toward, pushed open the barely visible stone door, and ran out of sight. An empty silence lingered.
Jake took two Pokéballs out of his pocket and recalled his exhausted Excadrill and Grovyle. He put the Pokéballs in his pocket, then walked over to the Crobat. “If you didn’t want us intervening back there, I apologize,” he spoke.
“
Oh, that’s not the case at all,” Crobat assured him with calm clicking noises. “
The help was greatly appreciated. You were right to teach that haughty Trainer and his Crawdaunt a lesson. For that, I must reward you; I cannot thank you enough.” She turned toward the wall behind her and pressed on a small indent in it, causing a door-shaped section of the wall to fall down. “
Follow me.”
As the Aura Guardian followed the Crobat into the smaller cave, he couldn’t help but remember the Egg that was mentioned earlier, before the battle. Would Crobat show him the Egg?
Exactly right. In the center of the dark space, as Jake could see, was a
light and dark purple-patterned Pokémon Egg in a soft bed of straw. Odd for there to be straw in a cave, but who was Jake to judge?
The Bat Pokémon nodded at Jake—
Keep watch of the Egg, she seemed to say—and then flew into a wall of the small area, digging her hind wings into the apparently soft dirt surface and then hanging upside down from the makeshift “perch.” While Crobat took a rest on the wall, Jake knelt down close to the Egg and examined it, using his right hand to take his Pokédex out of his pocket to scan the Pokémon inside. His left hand, gloved just like his right, warmed the Egg with the influence of his strong aura.
The nudge from the aura turned out to be all that was needed. Before the Pokédex even loaded up any entry, a bright glow surrounded the Egg, illuminating the area around it. As Jake and the Crobat watched, a crack appeared on the glowing Egg.
Then another. Then another. More and more cracks formed on the Egg, until finally, it burst open in a flash of slightly blue light. When the light subsided, a bat-like Pokémon that matched the patterns on its Egg, much smaller than Crobat, looked curiously up at the Trainer from its spot in the straw bed.
“Noibat, bat?” the Pokémon cooed innocently.
Intrigued by the bat Pokémon that did not resemble the Crobat, Jake glanced down at the Pokédex he was holding in his right hand, and started reading it softly aloud once he saw that it now displayed the relevant entry.
Noibat, the Sound Wave Pokémon. A Flying and Dragon-type. No wavelength of sound is beyond Noibat's ability to produce. The ultrasonic waves it generates can overcome much larger Pokémon.
Upon reading the entry, Jake closed his Pokédex, put it away, and smiled gently at the newly-hatched Noibat, before turning to the Crobat still perched on the wall. “May I keep her?” he asked.
“
As Noibat’s adopted mother, I give you permission to take her under your wing,” the Poison and Flying-type answered. “
Your figurative wing, that is. From the moment I, as the leader of the Zubat and Golbat in these caverns, found her Egg swept into the tunnels by the storm, to now—when she finally hatches—I hoped that she would come under the care of a responsible Trainer. I trust that you are that Trainer. Please raise Noibat well. Make me proud,” Crobat trailed off.
Jake’s smile widened. “I will,” he promised.
“Bat~” the Sound Wave Pokémon squeaked happily, seeming to realize that she was about to be given a new home.
The young Aura Guardian took an empty Pokéball out of his pocket and enlarged it, then placed it in front of the Noibat. “I’m Jake, Jake Celeste,” he introduced himself. “Ready to go home?”
Noibat nodded without a word as she leaned forward and tapped the Pokéball with the tips of her ears. The Ball opened, sucking the Flying and Dragon-type inside, and shook two times before falling still.
The Trainer picked up the Pokéball containing his newest Pokémon. Suspecting that Noibat was sensitive to loud sounds, Jake only whispered to the sphere-shaped device—“Welcome to the team, Noibat,”—before putting it in his pocket. He stood up. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Crobat,” he addressed the ‘Bat leader respectfully.
“
The same to you, Jake,” replied Crobat from her upside-down resting place. “
Good luck and be safe on your travels, my friend. Until we meet again one day.”
With that, Jake turned and walked out of the small part of the cave, pulling the “door” back up behind him. As he walked toward the exit of the large, spacious cavern, the disorganized chattering of the Zubat on the walls suddenly became unified, as if the Zubat were thanking Jake for saving their leader. Appreciating the gesture, the young Aura Guardian waved to the Pokémon while he headed for the exit, before reaching the doorway and disappearing around the corner.
Jake’s parents were, in a way, proud yet disappointed when he later explained to them what had happened that day.
12-20-2021, 07:00 AM
(Lv. 37)
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