Chapter 22
The group froze in the car. All of them had thoughts circulating in their minds, but the dominant thought was the safety of their new friends.
“Oh dear…” West sighed. “How are we going to do this? It just…doesn’t seem like it’s going to work.”
Josh looked anxious as well, but his cool demeanor helped him keep a cool head.
“I…I have no idea how we’re going to do this, but I guess we’ll give it a shot somehow.”
Everyone was just looking off into nothing, until they noticed the family was looking a bit distressed with their tardiness in the group leaving their car.
Andy broke the silence. “Well, when they leave to a hotel, we can just ask to stay behind for a little bit longer. And then, when everyone else is gone, we’ll find the Time Gear.”
“Good enough for me,” Josh slipped his humanizing ring on. “Just remember, if this gear has a guardian like Kyurem, we need to be prepared for anything.” After they got their rings on, they exited their car.
“Oh, good,” Sheilah gave a breath of relief. “We started thinking that something was the matter. Were you making plans for your next adventure?”
Claire shrugged. “You could say something like that.”
And so, they adventured through the old town. They found old, crumbling stone buildings, tourist jokes put in by people who owned the property (like two old-fashioned bathroom stalls stacked on each other. The one on top said “Mine boss”, and the one on the bottom read “Miner”), and some other unique and interesting items.
Andy decided to check the surrounding aura once again. The trail was getting stronger, and it was following the path of an old mine rail.
He followed the tracks, until he hit a wall of fallen rock. It had a frame of an old mine, and the sign next to it read “Danger! Abandoned mine, do not enter!”, even though the entrance made it otherwise impossible to get through. Sure enough, the trail penetrated the rock, and continued on to the other side.
Perfect, Andy thought. He turned and called the group over. He told his findings to his friends, but he silently dropped the conversation when he caught Jack and his family in their peripheral vision.
“Wowie! You guys found an old mine entrance! Too bad it’s blocked, or we could’ve totally gone in!” Sheilah looked at Jack in a worried way. “Er, if it weren’t illegal, of course! Kids, you shouldn’t go anywhere the law tells you not to.”
Soon, the sun started to set, and the kids were getting very sleepy. Sheilah got the family in the car, but before driving off, reported their destination.
“We’re going to go back to the hotel. Want to some with us?”
“Thanks, but I think we’d like to take a little more of a look around.”
“Are you sure? It’s quite hot out here, and I don’t know how long you can keep wearing your rings until something bad happens.”
Andy began to reply, but began to think about it a little more. He looked back. There were a lot of people still here. How many were part of Pokextinction? Plus, Sheilah had a point about the rings.
“…Actually, yeah, I think we’ll ride along with you.” He called his friends, and they all went into the car.
“Andy, what are you doing?” Josh said as he took his ring off.
“There were too many people here, and we can only wear our rings long enough until they begin to hurt us. It’s okay, I know where to go, we can come back tonight.”
Josh began to protest, but a tired Claire hushed him.
“I must admit, I’m a bit worn out. If we could just take a nap, that would be nice.”
***
They went back to the hotel they were staying at for the journey. Jack and his family went to their room, and the friends went to theirs. They went to their rooms, and all took a nap. Afterwards, when they felt full of energy, they got a bite, and waited until nightfall, when they could be sure the family they were travelling with were fast asleep.
Each of them were having exotic popsicles when they heard snoring coming from the other room. They checked the time; 11:00, the perfect time to go out and get a Time Gear. They threw their sticks away, got in their car, and drove off.
As they arrived to the town, they followed the aura trail that Andy led until they came to the sealed mine.
“Stand back,” West called. “This isn’t natural rock. Standby.” He dug in his backpack, and retrieved a large, bazooka like tool. He got on one knee, and rested the tool on his shoulder. He let the energy build, and he released, hitting the rock and creating an opening.
“You know, I could’ve taken care of it with an Aura Sphere, right?” Andy asked.
“Yeah, but that way was more exiting.”
“Fair enough.”
They entered the tunnel, where all light disappeared. To compensate, Claire took out her torch like she did in Anty. They kept travelling until the Aura trail abruptly turned and entered the wall.
West went for his backpack, but Josh stopped him.
“Wait a minute. Wouldn’t want to go burying us alive, do you? I can carve a way through.” He cracked his knuckles, and proceeded carving out the rock, until the wall came down. It revealed another set of stairs, this time made out of rock. They descended down the stairs, when they noticed a strange, orange glow filling the tunnel. Claire snuffed out her torch, and they all went down.
“Oof.” Josh groaned. “Has anyone noticed how hot it’s getting?”
“Yep,” Andy confirmed. “I have.”
The reached a landing, and through the opening they found a darkened path, with a round area in the middle. Past that, a gear was there, ticking away with the energy gears surrounding it.
This time, they grew cautious. They could only see a dimly lit path ahead of them. They proceeded across the narrow stretch of rock. When they got out, they discovered the source of the abnormal heat; there was lava on both sides! They kept on going until the reached the round part of the path. As soon as the last person crossed it, a rumbling was heard, and a great eruption of lava completely destroyed the path back out. Up ahead, the path to the Time Gear was also destroyed, but this time with a large shadow.
"Finally. This is your second Time Gear, huh? Well, it's mine now. You want it?" The cave suddenly lit up to reveal a giant Groudon. "Then, come and get it!"
Lava spurred to it’s mouth, and it unleashed a large stream of it to the stage. They all ducked out of the way.
West went to grab a tool, but Josh wasn’t pleased.
“Are you kidding me?! You’re a water type! You can easily beat this guy!”
“I know, but…my water type moves are-”
“I doesn’t matter! Just use them!”
West gathered up his energy, and with a pucker of his lips left a tiny stream of water. It hit the Groudon, which definitely felt it, but seemed unmoved either way.
“Water Gun?! Dude, are you kidding me?! How long have you been at the base?”
“For some time, but…I never really worked on it.”
“Well, you’re gonna have to now!” Josh did a graceful leap as he dodged a swiping claw from the giant.
Andy dodged another lava blast, and retaliated with an Aura Sphere.
Gah, these attacks don’t seem to work! He felt a hand grasping his shoulder.
“Andy!” West called. “Can we try that Dragon Pulse thing with my Water Gun?”
“Anything to take down this behemoth.” Andy knelt down and let out the Pulse, while West blew his water spout into it. The water collided, and swirled around and around, but still didn’t gain as much power as it did with Claire’s flamethrower.
“Dude, you’re gonna need a give me a stronger water move! Do you know any else?”
“Nope!”
“But I do!” Andy tried to recognize that voice with someone from the group, but when he turned to the entrance he found it was Sheilah! With some amazing acrobatics, she joined the fray on the center platform.
“Listen well, West.” Sheilah went over to the Dewott and knelt down beside him. “I can teach you the secrets of the water type. I can help you unlock your potential.”
“But I thought-”
“You don’t. Water moves freely like the essence of the heart. It is not confined within the limits of the mind.” Sheilah looked up and called out. “I need you guys to cover me for a moment!”
Andy nodded, and proceeded his desperate assault on Groudon. Claire manly resorted to using Psychic, as her fire-type moves seemed to not help the situation. Josh was dashing back and forth in a kind of blur, landing his Ice Claws while trying not to get singed.
Claire kept on with her attack, until she tripped on a protruding rock. She fell backwards, and looked up to see a large blast of lava in her direction. She braced herself from the pain until she was hit aside by a fast moving force. She looked up to see who had rescued her, and found it was Jack!
“G’day! Fancy meeting you here.” He quickly helped her up, and he joined Josh in their quick blur of attacks.
“…Do you understand, know?” Sheilah said.
“…Yes…yes! Wow, this feels so good! Let’s give it a try!” West stood up, and faced the Groudon. “Here goes!”
West once again gathered his energy, but the water leaving him had increased more than tenfold. His Water Gun had been transformed into a Hydro Pump. The blast of water his the Groudon, which expelled a roar of pain as steam was visibly seen leaving Groudon.
“It worked! Andy, get your Dragon Pulse ready!”
“Aww, yeah. Here it goes!” Andy once again blasted a pulse, and West included his Hyrdo Pump in there. The result was a massive tornado of water which hit Groudon, causing a thick cloud of steam to rise in the cave.
"Wait! I admit defeat! Stop attacking!" They all backed away as Groudon dried itself off. "Thank you all for freeing me. That was an intense battle."
Jack and Sheilah walked up towards the guardian.
“Why? Why did you attack us?”
“It was not of my will.”
Andy recognized what had happened. “He’s telling the truth! It was all because of this influence left by this Mr. X dude.”
The Groudon shook it’s head in approval. “Very good. I take it that fate has fallen to another guardian?”
“Yeah, we fought Kyurem, and it was under the same influence as well.”
“So, it seems that you are indeed searching for the gears. Why, might I ask?”
“That same Mr. X guys wants in for the Pokémon world, so we’re trying to get the gears before he does, or, worse case scenario, warn them of his coming.”
“Ah, that truly would be bad. Well, I wish you all luck.” The Groudon sank into the lava. Concentrated lava flew up and solidified to re-form the paths that were destroyed.
Andy turned to Jack and Sheilah. “How did you guys know we were here?”
“We watch over the Time Gear as the ones chosen by the Pokeuman base to protect it. That’s why there were natural boundaries and the sign that said not to enter.”
Sheilah stepped forward. “However…if what you say is true, then it may be best for you four to take the Time Gear.” She and Jack both stepped aside. “Go forth. We will be seeing you back at the hotel.”
“Not for any personal reasons,” Jack called, “It’s just, you know…the whole thing about time.”
“Don’t worry, I know how to properly extract it. Just don’t go sealing us up in here, okay?”
The couple laughed, and they turned and dashed away.
West waved goodbye. “Well, Andy. You know what to do.”
“No need to tell me twice.”
Andy cautiously stepped up to the gear, and held his paws out. The aura radiated in the space between the gear and his paws, and soon the gear gently slipped out of its spot, and gently fell into Andy’s hand. He opened his backpack and took out the carrier. He opened it, and placed it next to the other gear.
Two down, six to go.
***
They went back to the hotel, and rode with the family back to the house. They bid the family goodbye, and road off to the coast, back to Melbourne. There, they got back to port.
“Okay, so the next place we need to go to is Russia. Are there any boats that go to Russia?”
“I don’t know. I hear Russia and Australia aren’t exactly on friendly terms. It’d be hard to find a boat that can-”
“I’ve got a boat, and I’m willin’ to take you anywheres! Come on, give me a challenge, I can do it!”
Across the way, Andy saw a muscular man advertising his boating expertise. Behind him, employees were also going about.
“…Well,” Josh cleared his throat. “That’ll do.” They went up to the man awkwardly.
“Excuse me, sir,” Andy announced. “Me and my friends are looking for a boat ride to Russia. Think you can do that?”
The sailor gave a big laugh. “Well ‘course I can! I said any challenge, didn’t I?”
“Can you take a car?”
“Yeah!”
“Alright. How much?”
“Well, it all depends on where ya wanna go! If I can’t get ya there, the boat ride’s free!”
Andy marveled at the courage of this man. He agreed to the offer. After they did some shopping for food, the got the car in the boat, and found their quarters.
Shortly after, one of the crew men knocked on their door.
“Have ye got everythin’?”
“Yes!”
“Then, come on up deck! The capn’s gotta good shove-off planned for us!”
The all went to deck, and they found the captain at the wheel.
“I’ll show ye landlubs the real meanin’ of sailin’! These fine souls have given me a challenge, and now it’s Russia or bust! Hoist the anchor! Turn on the engines! Let’s get started!”
The boat was ready, and they set out to sea. The captain, excited with the new voyage began to sing a sailor’s song.
“Got a whale of a tale to tell ya, lads, a whale of a tale or two, 'bout the flappin' fish and the girls I've loved on nights like this with the moon above, a whale of a tale and it's all true, I swear by my tattoo!”
Chapter 23: Next
(Just for kicks and giggles, you can find that song here:
)
The group froze in the car. All of them had thoughts circulating in their minds, but the dominant thought was the safety of their new friends.
“Oh dear…” West sighed. “How are we going to do this? It just…doesn’t seem like it’s going to work.”
Josh looked anxious as well, but his cool demeanor helped him keep a cool head.
“I…I have no idea how we’re going to do this, but I guess we’ll give it a shot somehow.”
Everyone was just looking off into nothing, until they noticed the family was looking a bit distressed with their tardiness in the group leaving their car.
Andy broke the silence. “Well, when they leave to a hotel, we can just ask to stay behind for a little bit longer. And then, when everyone else is gone, we’ll find the Time Gear.”
“Good enough for me,” Josh slipped his humanizing ring on. “Just remember, if this gear has a guardian like Kyurem, we need to be prepared for anything.” After they got their rings on, they exited their car.
“Oh, good,” Sheilah gave a breath of relief. “We started thinking that something was the matter. Were you making plans for your next adventure?”
Claire shrugged. “You could say something like that.”
And so, they adventured through the old town. They found old, crumbling stone buildings, tourist jokes put in by people who owned the property (like two old-fashioned bathroom stalls stacked on each other. The one on top said “Mine boss”, and the one on the bottom read “Miner”), and some other unique and interesting items.
Andy decided to check the surrounding aura once again. The trail was getting stronger, and it was following the path of an old mine rail.
He followed the tracks, until he hit a wall of fallen rock. It had a frame of an old mine, and the sign next to it read “Danger! Abandoned mine, do not enter!”, even though the entrance made it otherwise impossible to get through. Sure enough, the trail penetrated the rock, and continued on to the other side.
Perfect, Andy thought. He turned and called the group over. He told his findings to his friends, but he silently dropped the conversation when he caught Jack and his family in their peripheral vision.
“Wowie! You guys found an old mine entrance! Too bad it’s blocked, or we could’ve totally gone in!” Sheilah looked at Jack in a worried way. “Er, if it weren’t illegal, of course! Kids, you shouldn’t go anywhere the law tells you not to.”
Soon, the sun started to set, and the kids were getting very sleepy. Sheilah got the family in the car, but before driving off, reported their destination.
“We’re going to go back to the hotel. Want to some with us?”
“Thanks, but I think we’d like to take a little more of a look around.”
“Are you sure? It’s quite hot out here, and I don’t know how long you can keep wearing your rings until something bad happens.”
Andy began to reply, but began to think about it a little more. He looked back. There were a lot of people still here. How many were part of Pokextinction? Plus, Sheilah had a point about the rings.
“…Actually, yeah, I think we’ll ride along with you.” He called his friends, and they all went into the car.
“Andy, what are you doing?” Josh said as he took his ring off.
“There were too many people here, and we can only wear our rings long enough until they begin to hurt us. It’s okay, I know where to go, we can come back tonight.”
Josh began to protest, but a tired Claire hushed him.
“I must admit, I’m a bit worn out. If we could just take a nap, that would be nice.”
***
They went back to the hotel they were staying at for the journey. Jack and his family went to their room, and the friends went to theirs. They went to their rooms, and all took a nap. Afterwards, when they felt full of energy, they got a bite, and waited until nightfall, when they could be sure the family they were travelling with were fast asleep.
Each of them were having exotic popsicles when they heard snoring coming from the other room. They checked the time; 11:00, the perfect time to go out and get a Time Gear. They threw their sticks away, got in their car, and drove off.
As they arrived to the town, they followed the aura trail that Andy led until they came to the sealed mine.
“Stand back,” West called. “This isn’t natural rock. Standby.” He dug in his backpack, and retrieved a large, bazooka like tool. He got on one knee, and rested the tool on his shoulder. He let the energy build, and he released, hitting the rock and creating an opening.
“You know, I could’ve taken care of it with an Aura Sphere, right?” Andy asked.
“Yeah, but that way was more exiting.”
“Fair enough.”
They entered the tunnel, where all light disappeared. To compensate, Claire took out her torch like she did in Anty. They kept travelling until the Aura trail abruptly turned and entered the wall.
West went for his backpack, but Josh stopped him.
“Wait a minute. Wouldn’t want to go burying us alive, do you? I can carve a way through.” He cracked his knuckles, and proceeded carving out the rock, until the wall came down. It revealed another set of stairs, this time made out of rock. They descended down the stairs, when they noticed a strange, orange glow filling the tunnel. Claire snuffed out her torch, and they all went down.
“Oof.” Josh groaned. “Has anyone noticed how hot it’s getting?”
“Yep,” Andy confirmed. “I have.”
The reached a landing, and through the opening they found a darkened path, with a round area in the middle. Past that, a gear was there, ticking away with the energy gears surrounding it.
This time, they grew cautious. They could only see a dimly lit path ahead of them. They proceeded across the narrow stretch of rock. When they got out, they discovered the source of the abnormal heat; there was lava on both sides! They kept on going until the reached the round part of the path. As soon as the last person crossed it, a rumbling was heard, and a great eruption of lava completely destroyed the path back out. Up ahead, the path to the Time Gear was also destroyed, but this time with a large shadow.
"Finally. This is your second Time Gear, huh? Well, it's mine now. You want it?" The cave suddenly lit up to reveal a giant Groudon. "Then, come and get it!"
Lava spurred to it’s mouth, and it unleashed a large stream of it to the stage. They all ducked out of the way.
West went to grab a tool, but Josh wasn’t pleased.
“Are you kidding me?! You’re a water type! You can easily beat this guy!”
“I know, but…my water type moves are-”
“I doesn’t matter! Just use them!”
West gathered up his energy, and with a pucker of his lips left a tiny stream of water. It hit the Groudon, which definitely felt it, but seemed unmoved either way.
“Water Gun?! Dude, are you kidding me?! How long have you been at the base?”
“For some time, but…I never really worked on it.”
“Well, you’re gonna have to now!” Josh did a graceful leap as he dodged a swiping claw from the giant.
Andy dodged another lava blast, and retaliated with an Aura Sphere.
Gah, these attacks don’t seem to work! He felt a hand grasping his shoulder.
“Andy!” West called. “Can we try that Dragon Pulse thing with my Water Gun?”
“Anything to take down this behemoth.” Andy knelt down and let out the Pulse, while West blew his water spout into it. The water collided, and swirled around and around, but still didn’t gain as much power as it did with Claire’s flamethrower.
“Dude, you’re gonna need a give me a stronger water move! Do you know any else?”
“Nope!”
“But I do!” Andy tried to recognize that voice with someone from the group, but when he turned to the entrance he found it was Sheilah! With some amazing acrobatics, she joined the fray on the center platform.
“Listen well, West.” Sheilah went over to the Dewott and knelt down beside him. “I can teach you the secrets of the water type. I can help you unlock your potential.”
“But I thought-”
“You don’t. Water moves freely like the essence of the heart. It is not confined within the limits of the mind.” Sheilah looked up and called out. “I need you guys to cover me for a moment!”
Andy nodded, and proceeded his desperate assault on Groudon. Claire manly resorted to using Psychic, as her fire-type moves seemed to not help the situation. Josh was dashing back and forth in a kind of blur, landing his Ice Claws while trying not to get singed.
Claire kept on with her attack, until she tripped on a protruding rock. She fell backwards, and looked up to see a large blast of lava in her direction. She braced herself from the pain until she was hit aside by a fast moving force. She looked up to see who had rescued her, and found it was Jack!
“G’day! Fancy meeting you here.” He quickly helped her up, and he joined Josh in their quick blur of attacks.
“…Do you understand, know?” Sheilah said.
“…Yes…yes! Wow, this feels so good! Let’s give it a try!” West stood up, and faced the Groudon. “Here goes!”
West once again gathered his energy, but the water leaving him had increased more than tenfold. His Water Gun had been transformed into a Hydro Pump. The blast of water his the Groudon, which expelled a roar of pain as steam was visibly seen leaving Groudon.
“It worked! Andy, get your Dragon Pulse ready!”
“Aww, yeah. Here it goes!” Andy once again blasted a pulse, and West included his Hyrdo Pump in there. The result was a massive tornado of water which hit Groudon, causing a thick cloud of steam to rise in the cave.
"Wait! I admit defeat! Stop attacking!" They all backed away as Groudon dried itself off. "Thank you all for freeing me. That was an intense battle."
Jack and Sheilah walked up towards the guardian.
“Why? Why did you attack us?”
“It was not of my will.”
Andy recognized what had happened. “He’s telling the truth! It was all because of this influence left by this Mr. X dude.”
The Groudon shook it’s head in approval. “Very good. I take it that fate has fallen to another guardian?”
“Yeah, we fought Kyurem, and it was under the same influence as well.”
“So, it seems that you are indeed searching for the gears. Why, might I ask?”
“That same Mr. X guys wants in for the Pokémon world, so we’re trying to get the gears before he does, or, worse case scenario, warn them of his coming.”
“Ah, that truly would be bad. Well, I wish you all luck.” The Groudon sank into the lava. Concentrated lava flew up and solidified to re-form the paths that were destroyed.
Andy turned to Jack and Sheilah. “How did you guys know we were here?”
“We watch over the Time Gear as the ones chosen by the Pokeuman base to protect it. That’s why there were natural boundaries and the sign that said not to enter.”
Sheilah stepped forward. “However…if what you say is true, then it may be best for you four to take the Time Gear.” She and Jack both stepped aside. “Go forth. We will be seeing you back at the hotel.”
“Not for any personal reasons,” Jack called, “It’s just, you know…the whole thing about time.”
“Don’t worry, I know how to properly extract it. Just don’t go sealing us up in here, okay?”
The couple laughed, and they turned and dashed away.
West waved goodbye. “Well, Andy. You know what to do.”
“No need to tell me twice.”
Andy cautiously stepped up to the gear, and held his paws out. The aura radiated in the space between the gear and his paws, and soon the gear gently slipped out of its spot, and gently fell into Andy’s hand. He opened his backpack and took out the carrier. He opened it, and placed it next to the other gear.
Two down, six to go.
***
They went back to the hotel, and rode with the family back to the house. They bid the family goodbye, and road off to the coast, back to Melbourne. There, they got back to port.
“Okay, so the next place we need to go to is Russia. Are there any boats that go to Russia?”
“I don’t know. I hear Russia and Australia aren’t exactly on friendly terms. It’d be hard to find a boat that can-”
“I’ve got a boat, and I’m willin’ to take you anywheres! Come on, give me a challenge, I can do it!”
Across the way, Andy saw a muscular man advertising his boating expertise. Behind him, employees were also going about.
“…Well,” Josh cleared his throat. “That’ll do.” They went up to the man awkwardly.
“Excuse me, sir,” Andy announced. “Me and my friends are looking for a boat ride to Russia. Think you can do that?”
The sailor gave a big laugh. “Well ‘course I can! I said any challenge, didn’t I?”
“Can you take a car?”
“Yeah!”
“Alright. How much?”
“Well, it all depends on where ya wanna go! If I can’t get ya there, the boat ride’s free!”
Andy marveled at the courage of this man. He agreed to the offer. After they did some shopping for food, the got the car in the boat, and found their quarters.
Shortly after, one of the crew men knocked on their door.
“Have ye got everythin’?”
“Yes!”
“Then, come on up deck! The capn’s gotta good shove-off planned for us!”
The all went to deck, and they found the captain at the wheel.
“I’ll show ye landlubs the real meanin’ of sailin’! These fine souls have given me a challenge, and now it’s Russia or bust! Hoist the anchor! Turn on the engines! Let’s get started!”
The boat was ready, and they set out to sea. The captain, excited with the new voyage began to sing a sailor’s song.
“Got a whale of a tale to tell ya, lads, a whale of a tale or two, 'bout the flappin' fish and the girls I've loved on nights like this with the moon above, a whale of a tale and it's all true, I swear by my tattoo!”
Chapter 23: Next
(Just for kicks and giggles, you can find that song here:
