Aqua's true face
Aqua's true face
Well, Chapter 34, and I've got something written down for this one...
Sashi: Then I better hope you'll finish this one a lot sooner than the last one...
Yeah, me too...
The whole area was silent right after Archie's last word had left his lips. Archie was grinning, and so were the Aqua members. Sashi didn't exactly think this was a time to grin. She felt shocked, confused, and betrayed to her trust.
"Excellent job, distracting these foolish Pokemon so that we could get in..." Archie said.
"So there never were any traps, were there?" Cath growled.
"Nope..." Archie chuckled. "Except for these pests using Psychic to gain control of our bodies..."
"Then I'm also sure that whatever's written on the door of this temple doesn't say that humans can't enter?" Cath said.
"Of course it does not..." Metagross said. "It says 'Evil may not enter'... I thought I had made that clear the last time you tried to come in this temple!" he added, his eyes glowing.
"What? I thought you said you didn't know Archie!" Sashi asked confused.
"Not by name..." Metagross replied.
"Oh..."
"Why have you lied to us?!" Eevy asked.
"We're the bad guys, we're supposed to lie!" Archie grinned back.
That's when the two Metang made their moves, but Archie was expecting this.
"If you move even ONE more inch," he began, and the Metang stopped dead, "Your precious leader will suffer the consequences..."
That's when Sashi saw the Aqua members had sent out their Pokemon. Few had brought out their Sharpedo, ready to use an Earthquake attack. Others had sent out their Mightyena. Even thought Dark attacks were normal, the Mightyena were Trained well, and could easily take Metagross down. All were growling at Metagross.
"Leave him alone!" Sashi cried.
"We're willing to let the creature live, in exchange that we-" Archie began, when suddenly he was interrupted by a loud roar that made everybody grasp for their ears, except for Metagross and Metang. When the roar stopped, Archie looked up, and smiled. "Ahhhh... Just what I was talking about..."
Sashi looked up at where Archie was looking, and gasped.
"S-Suicune!"
Suicune had its head lowered, its somewhat burning eyes focused on Archie.
"Al right," Archie said, and walked forwards, walking towards the growling Suicune. That's when he grabbed a Pokeball, and threw it in the air. "Go, Swampert!" Archie called, and the Pokeball opened. The white light that came out of it formed into a big shape. When the light faded, a big, muscular Pokemon with a long blue body and a lighter blue underbelly appeared. It had four appendages that were a cross between legs and fins. Each had an orange oval on it. It had large, fan-shaped fins above its eyes and a huge axe-like fin growing out of its behind as a prosaic tail would. It also had a pair of orange gills on either side of its face. It growled loud when released.
"A Swampert!" Cath gasped.
Suicune locked its eyes with Swampert, while Swampert did the same.
"Stop this!" Sashi cried while taking a step forwards.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you..." Archie said without turning his head. Sashi stopped moving, and growled.
"You are evil!"
"Thank you..." Archie replied. Then, suddenly, Suicune roared out loud again, making the ground shake softly. Everyone tried to control their balance as Suicune roared, when suddenly all the Pokemon that were out on the field (and water) were being returned into their Pokeballs. All, except Swampert.
"What's going on?" Sashi asked confused as she saw al the Pokemon disappear.
"Suicune is using its Roar attack..." Eevy said.
"Roar?"
"Yes... It makes all Pokemon within its reach be called back in their Pokeballs..."
"But how come Swampert is still out then?" Kyra asked.
Eevy, as everybody else, looked up to Swampert, and indeed, he hadn't returned into his Pokeball.
"Hey... You're right..." Eevy said. "Why is that?" she asked no one.
"Lord Suicune knows how to decide which of its opponents need to take part in this battle..." Metagross said as he approached Sashi and the others.
"You mean he can decide which Pokemon will be affected by Roar?" Cath asked.
"Correct..."
"Then this is the perfect opportunity!" Espeon said from below Sashi.
"Mmmm? What is?" Sashi asked confused.
"To attack Archie!" Espeon smiled.
"How?"
"You see, Roar has returned everyone into their Pokeballs, right?" Espeon asked.
"Yes?"
"Well I'm still out..." Espeon winked.
"What in the..." all Team Aqua members said as they saw their Pokemon being returned into their Pokeballs. Immediately they all grabbed for the Pokeballs to bring their Pokemon out again, when...
"Stop!" Archie said, making everybody in the cave freeze. "This," he added, turning his head towards Suicune, "Is between Suicune and me..."
This stopped everyone, and they let go of their Pokeballs.
"So we meet again..." Suicune's gentle voice spoke. Its voice sounded comfortable, and it gave Sashi the feeling she didn't need to worry. As if reading her mind, Suicune looked at Sashi for a second. "Same goes for you, young Trainer..."
Sashi didn't know what to say to this, so she kept herself quiet.
"I ask for you to stay out of this..." Suicune then said.
"So what should I do?" Espeon asked impatiently, grinning as she felt ready to attack.
"Nothing..." Sashi replied.
Espeon raised her head to her Trainer.
"Nothing?" Espeon repeated.
"That's right..."
"Why not?"
"You heard Suicune... It said we should stay out of this..." Sashi said.
"Yeah, I know, but..." Espeon said. "What if Suicune loses?"
"We won't know until we actually see it lose..."
"Well... I agree, you have a point there..."
"Calm down, Espeon..." Sashi smiled, and petted her head.
"You think we should help?" Umbreon asked his Trainer. Hearing no reply, he looked up. "Brian?" he said, while turning his head. Brian wasn't paying attention to him. He just stared straight ahead of himself with a shocked look on his face. "Brian, what's wrong?" Umbreon asked. Cath turned her head when she heard Umbreon say that.
"Brian?" she asked, approaching him, softly shaking his shoulder with her hand. This made Brian turn his head slightly. "What's wrong?" she asked, repeating Umbreon's question.
"Team Aqua... is... evil.." he replied softly.
"Yes, I know that..." Cath said. "But what does that have to do with why you are acting like this?"
"He's... One of them..." Brian said.
"What? Who is?" Cath asked confused.
Brian didn't reply immediately.
"Brian? Who is one of them?" Cath asked again.
"Ethan..." Brian replied, and Cath gasped. "Ethan..." Brian said again.
"It's time for me to do what I came for..." Archie said. "Swampert! Use Stomp!"
Swampert nodded once, and then leapt forwards, pulling one of his paws back. Suicune didn't move... yet. The second Swampert pushed his arm forwards, Suicune jumped up so fast it seemed like it vanished into thin air. Swampert, still thinking he would hit Suicune, slammed his arm down, punching a hole in the cavern floor.
"Damn!" Archie growled when he realized Suicune had jumped behind Swampert. Suicune opened its mouth wide, and suddenly a white ball of energy appeared in it. "Swampert! Dodge that Attack!" Archie called, and Swampert jumped forwards. But just as he wanted to turn around, Suicune shot its Ice Beam attack on him. Swampert didn't expect the Ice Beam to be shot this fast, and did everything he could to dodge the attack. He failed... partly. Suicune's Ice Beam attack was able to hit his leg. Immediately the ice started to cover most of his leg, and this caused Swampert to fall down to the ground faster. "Damn you!" Archie growled. "Shake that ice off your leg and attack with Iron Tail!"
Swampert complied, and slammed his hind foot down on the ground fast, making the ice crack. When all broke, it fell to the ground, and his leg was free. That's when he jumped forwards fast, even though his leg was recently injured. His tail started to glow bright, and he seemed to turn his body around slightly. Once again, Suicune didn't move, and once again, it jumped out of the way of Swampert's attack, his tail smashing into a big rock, turning it to rubble. That's when Suicune landed on the ground, its eyes glowing a bright, blue color and its head lowered.
"Swampert! Us-" Archie began when Suicune's mouth opened wide. All of a sudden, lots of snow and hail came out, as well as sharp pieces of ice. Suicune moved so fast, it didn't give Swampert time to recover from smashing into a rock. Swampert had just landed on the ground, and was able to turn around quick enough to see the attack approaching. It hit him hard, and he closed his eyes tight as he tried to withstand the sheer cold that was surrounding his body. Luckily for him, the sharp pieces of ice didn't hit him, otherwise the fight would probably have been over.
"Enough of this!" Archie growled. He was starting to become angry and impatient. "Swampert! Use Rock Slide!"
Swampert nodded, and lowered his head. Then he jumped up real hard and high, reaching the ceiling of the cave. There he punched a hole in it, making the whole area shake a little. This caused several pieces of rock to fall down in all directions. Even as hard as Suicune tried to dodge everything that came in its area, it couldn't help itself from getting hurt. It made it fall down on the ground.
"This is your chance! Use Hydro Pump!" Archie called, and while falling down, Swampert arched his back, and then pushed his head forwards, opening his mouth. A second later, a big beam of water was shot at Suicune.
When all the rocks had finally stopped falling, Suicune shook its head and got off the ground. When it saw the beam of water approaching, it quickly countered with its Hydro Pump attack, making a big explosion of water appear. Everybody in the area jumped out of the way as millions of drops of water fell on the floor. The second Swampert landed on the ground, Suicune made its move. It jumped forwards, its mouth opened wide, its teeth visible.
"Swampert! Use Protect!" Archie grinned.
Swampert nodded, and held his arms crossed before his face, glowing brightly for a second. Normally, a barrier would appear, sending the opponent crashing into it. But even though Protect is an attack that works most of the time, sometimes it lets you down. Like now. The barrier didn't appear. Suicune attack wasn't stopped. Protect failed. Suicune, noticing Protect didn't work, opened its mouth even wider while approaching Swampert, and then dug its teeth deep into Swampert's neck. This caused Swampert to groan in pain as Suicune finished its attack, jumping back rapidly while keeping its guard up in case Swampert made a sudden move. Not that Swampert could, though. He had lost a big part of his energy to all Suicune's attacks, and was almost down for the count.
"Swampert... Use Recover..." Archie said.
Swampert closed his eyes, and started glowing. A few seconds later, all the injuries he had were gone.
Suicune looked at Swampert, and then suddenly jumped back, behind a big rock.
"What's Suicune doing?" Archie thought when Suicune didn't return. He waited a few more seconds before calling; "Swampert! Go find that Pokemon!"
Swampert started walking, when suddenly the ground beneath him shook a little. A few seconds later Swampert was thrown into the air hard. It appeared Suicune used Dig, and used it behind the rock to surprise its foe. And it worked. Swampert went flying through the air, before roughly crashing with his head into another big rock with sharp ends, making clouds of smoke appear.
"Get up!" Archie growled.
When the smoke cleared Archie gasped. Swampert's head was bleeding.
"Arrrrgh! You're gonna pay for that! Swampert! Use Recover again!" Archie growled.
Swampert complied, and started glowing again. The wound in his head soon closed, and disappeared, as if nothing had happened. Suicune took this time to jump behind the same rock it jumped behind before.
"Oh no you don't! Not again! Swampert! Use Mimic!" Archie ordered. After Swampert was fully recovered, it glowed again, and then started digging in the ground, until it had made a hole big enough for him to go through. Then he dug deeper, until it was under ground.
Everyone patiently waited for what was to come. They could hear sounds from underneath, so they assumed Suicune and Swampert were fighting there. Things continued like this for a couple more minutes, until a loud crash ended all. Next, Suicune's body came flying out of the ground by a big beam of water, making it crash into the ceiling. Archie grinned and grabbed for something. Sashi had only one second to take a good look at what Archie grabbed for, and gasped as he threw a Masterball at the falling Suicune.
"NO!" Sashi called as the Masterball hit Suicune. Sparks of light appeared and surrounded Suicune as it turned into a red light. Then it was sucked into the tiny ball, as it closed, and fell to the ground. It shook a couple of times, before it came to a stop.
"This can not be..." Metagross said softly.
Archie laughed out loud as he walked over to the Masterball lying on the ground, and then grabbed it.
"You see, Suicune," Archie grinned, looking at the Masterball he held in his hand, "I've learned from our previous encounters... You may be very quick in open air, but you're not inside a cave..."
"NOW can we fight?!" Espeon said.
"GO!" Sashi called.
"Alright!" Espeon smiled as she started running.
"I'm going too, Brian!" Umbreon said, and also started running.
Archie looked at the couple approaching him, and grinned. Without saying a word, he threw the Masterball into the air, and a few seconds later, it opened. White light came out, and landed on the ground. It then formed into the shape of Suicune. When the light faded, Espeon and Umbreon stopped.
Suicune stood there, head lowered, not making a move.
"Oh no... Not Suicune..." Sashi said. "Already I know they won't stand a chance... not against Suicune..."
Then Suicune raised its head, and glared at the two Eon Pokemon a little distant ahead of it. Suicune's eyes looked different than before. Before it was filled with anger about Archie entering its sacred temple, but this time... There was no emotion at all.
"Ehhhh... S-Sashi?" Espeon asked nervous. "What should I do?"
"Nothing..." Sashi said.
"What? Why?"
"Because there's nothing you can do..." Archie said, making Espeon turn her head. "If you go into a battle with Suicune, you're done for!" Archie grinned. "Let me show you what I mean... Suicune! Use Dig!"
Suicune complied, and didn't bother doing it behind a rock this time. Instead, it pushed its paws deep into the ground, and within a second, it was underground.
"Oh no!" Sashi said, panicking. She didn't want to fight Suicune, so she didn't order Espeon to. But now she had no choice. Since Suicune was attacking her, she had to make a move back. "Espeon! Look out! Suicune may come up any second now!"
"Brian?! A little help here!" Umbreon shouted, not having heard from his Trainer in a while now. Brian hadn't said anything since he found out about Ethan, and his face was still filled with shock.
"I think I'll take over for a while..." Kyra said when Brian didn't respond.
"I think that's the best option, I agree..." Umbreon said. Kyra smiled. This was her first time as a 'Trainer'. This time she could give orders instead of being the one taking them.
A second after these words left Umbreon's mouth, Suicune's Dig attack got to work. Suicune's head appeared out of nowhere, right underneath Umbreon.
"Umbreon!" Espeon gasped.
Umbreon flew through the air, making a summersault, and then landing on his feet.
"That all you can do?" Umbreon grinned.
"Phew!" Kyra said.
"Good work!" Espeon said, running over to him.
"As usual..." Umbreon replied.
"I think we should attack now..." Sashi said.
"But you said-"
"I know what I said, but since Suicune is fighting, we have no choice but to fight back..." Sashi said.
"Okay, ehh... Umbreon? Use... Use... What can you do, actually?"
"He can do Psychic, Faint attack, Shadow Ball and Mean Look..." Sashi said.
"Okay, ehh..." Kyra said again. "Use Psychic!" Kyra called.
"Good choice! You too Espeon!" Sashi called.
"Okay!" both Eons nodded, and lowered their heads. Suddenly their eyes started glowing bright, and an aura surrounded their bodies. Suddenly, an unseen force was shot at Suicune. First there were two different, but then the two Psychics combined, forming a bigger force, one that left a trail of dust behind.
"Dodge that attack, and use Ice Beam!" Archie called, and Suicune jumped out of the way of the combined Psychic attack, and opened its mouth wide.
"Look out!" Sashi and Kyra called. Espeon and Umbreon stopped their attacks, just as Suicune fired its beam. Luckily, Umbreon got out of the way, but unfortunately for Espeon, she was unable to dodge. The beam hit her body, and the ice started surrounding her, until she was completely covered up in it.
"NO!" both Sashi and Umbreon cried.
"She's..." Eevy began.
"Frozen solid..." Archie grinned.
Sashi ran over to her Pokemon, and knelt down.
"Espeon... Don't worry... I'll get you out..." she said, and grabbed for a Full Restore. She aimed it at Espeon, and then sprayed. Immediately the ice on Espeon's body began to melt slowly, as a puddle of water appeared underneath her. Then she fell to the ground, eyes closed, shivering like mad, but not conscious.
"Here," Sashi said, taking off her jacket, and laying it over Espeon, "This'll keep you warm..."
"Espeon..." Umbreon whispered as he saw his love lying on the ground, unconscious. Suddenly, it seemed like fire started burning in his eyes, ad he locked gazes with Suicune.
"You're gonna pay for that!"
Suicune didn't reply, as Umbreon slowly started walking forwards.
"Umbreon! Don't do any foolish things!" Sashi said, but Umbreon didn't hear this. The only thing he was focused on was Suicune. He started running now, preparing a Quick Attack, going faster and faster. "No Umbreon! Don't!" Sashi called, but Umbreon was already going too fast to stop now. Not that anything could stop him. Just as he was about to hit Suicune, Suicune did Roar. Everyone grasped for their ears again as the loud sound echoed through the cave. Suddenly, the surprised Umbreon started glowing, before completely turning into a red light, and that light shot back into a Pokeball on Brian's belt. Brian felt this, and gasped as he got out of his shock and looked down.
"Oh no..." he said.
"Now that that is taken care of, you're next..." Archie grinned, looking at everybody.
"Woooohoooooo!" a high pitched voice suddenly shouted, making everybody look up. Then, a small, green creature with a big and thick green tail jumped down from a rock, onto Archie's head.
"What the?!" everybody, but especially Archie gasped. Sashi looked closer. She saw it was a Treecko that had landed on Archie's head. But not an ordinary Treecko. A Treecko with green hair, wearing a headband.
"A Treecko?" Sashi said to herself.
The Treecko started slamming his tail, hitting Archie everywhere he could. When Archie had enough of this, he started grabbing for him.
"Get off you little pest!" he growled, reaching up his hands. The Treecko smiled, and made a little hop as Archie's hand missed him. Then he took his chance, grabbed the Masterball Archie was holding, and then jumped off his head.
"What the?!" Cath gasped, as she noticed what the Treecko had done.
The Treecko started running, until he came to a stop.
"Give that back!" Archie growled, realizing the Masterball wasn't in his hand anymore.
The Treecko looked over his shoulder, his eyes half closed, and grinned.
"No..." he said.
"What's... going on?" Kyra asked.
Archie growled, and approached the Treecko slowly.
"Give... me... that... Masterball!" he said, but just as he got close enough to the Treecko, he just jumped away from Archie.
Meanwhile, Suicune's eyes hadn't left the Treecko for a second. They were still looking straight at him as he jumped around happily, dodging Archie's grasping hands.
"OKAY! That's it!" Archie cried. "Suicune! Turn this annoyance into an ice statue!"
Suicune obeyed, and opened its mouth, where a beam of ice appeared a second later.
"Whoa!" the Treecko gasped, dodging the beam, making it hit the wall. "Slow down, doggy!"
But Suicune didn't. It fired another beam, making the Treecko jump high in the sky, hitting the wall again and again.
"Guess not!" the Treecko said as Suicune fired yet another beam. He dodged even more Ice Beams as all missed him, hitting the wall, and some parts of the ceiling. Then the Treecko jumped over Suicune, directly towards Sashi and the others. Suicune tried to hit the Treecko with his Ice Beam, but missed, and hit the ceiling again a couple of times. Suicune didn't stop its Ice Beam attack this time, however, but continued to use it, making a line of ice cover the ceiling. When the beam came too close for the Treecko to dodge, it hit the tip of his tail, and he felt the cold ice surround it.
"Hey!" the Treecko groaned, landing on the ground, his face turned away from Suicune. "That's cold!" he said, turning his head. That's when he discovered Suicune had shot a final Ice Beam straight at him, and it hit his body. This made him drop the Masterball, as his body turned into ice, something Grass types really hate.
"FINALLY!" Archie growled as Suicune stopped its Ice Beam. Archie then walked over to the frozen Treecko, and reached for the Masterball. When he had it, he kicked the statue of ice, making it slide over the cavern floor. Luckily for the Treecko this didn't make the ice crack or fall apart, or else he would've died.
"Now, to finish you off-" Archie began, when suddenly there was a loud crack, coming from the ceiling. The Ice Beam attack had frozen all the parts of the wall and ceiling it had hit, and that was now falling apart.
"This looks bad!" Sashi said, looking up. At this rate, the whole ceiling might fall apart.
Archie also sensed danger.
"Men! Retreat!" he called, and all Aqua members nodded as they ran to the tunnel they arrived in. "You two! Return!" Archie said to Suicune and Swampert as he aimed their balls at them. Swampert soon returned into his Pokeball, and Suicune returned into his Masterball. "It seems this saves me the trouble of taking you out myself..." Archie laughed as he escaped through the tunnel as well, while more pieces of frozen ice fell to the floor.
"We gotta get out of here!" Sashi called to everyone. She grabbed Espeon off the ground, and started running to the tunnel.
"Let's go Brian!" Kyra said, pulling his arm and taking him with her.
"Wait for me!" Aaron called, almost running faster than everybody else. Just as he was about to enter the tunnel, a large piece of the ceiling fell down right in front of it.
"NOOOOO! SO close!" Aaron cried.
"There's no other way out!" Sashi gasped, quickly looking around.
"Hurry!" Metagross said, slowly approaching the group. "Gather around me! I shall use my Barrier to protect you!"
Without having another choice, Sashi nodded, and, together with the rest, she ran to Metagross. The second they were close enough to his body, Metagross glowed, and a barrier of light soon covered them all. That's when the caver really started to collapse. More and more pieces started to fall, crashing down on the floor. Several parts also fell onto the Barrier, and that made Aaron flinch.
"Do not worry.. Nothing has ever gone through my Barrier..." Metagross said, as the area around them slowly got covered with debris...
Silence was all that was left after a few minutes. Well, silence, dust, and lots of broken parts of rock and ice. Suddenly, the pile Sashi and the others were under started to fall apart as Metagross slowly floated up. The torches had gone out because of the whole cave collapsing, so the room was pitch black. Sashi quickly brought out Ninetales, and she lit them again.
"Whoa..." Eevy said after this, looking at all the destruction around her.
"Thank you for saving our lives, Metagross..." Sashi said.
"Not a problem, young Trainer..." Metagross smiled.
"Now what do we do?" Kyra asked.
"Let's try and find another way out..." Sashi said as she laid Espeon down on the ground.
"There we go.." Cath said, and laid something down on the ground. Brian looked closer, and saw it was the ice statue of the Treecko.
"You saved him?" Brian asked.
"Would you have let him die?" Cath eyed Brian.
"No, of course not..."
"Oh, it's that Treecko..." Eevy said, approaching the two.
"Yeah, I managed to grab him before the ceiling collapsed..." Cath said. "Do you have a Full Restore for him?"
"Of course..." Eevy smiled, and reached for her backpack. She took a Full Restore out, and gave it to Cath.
"Thanks..." she said, and sprayed it on the Treecko. Just like with Espeon, the ice started to melt immediately, and soon the Treecko was free, shivering like mad. "Here..." Cath said, took off her coat, and put it around the Treecko.
"T-t-t-t-th-thanks..." the Treecko stuttered.
"It's no use... There's no other way out then from where we came... And that way is blocked.." Kyra said as she and Aaron stood in front of the pile of rubble that once used to be entrance.
"But not completely... I can still feel fresh air..." Aaron said.
"You can?" Kyra asked confused.
"Yeah... Look at my leaf..." Aaron said, and nodded up. The leaf on Aaron's head was slowly waving from side to side.
"Wow! That's awesome!" Kyra smiled.
"Thanks..." Aaron blushed.
"I'll go tell the others!" Kyra said, and ran away.
"MAN she's cute!" Aaron thought, looking at Kyra running.
"Hey Brian!" Kyra smiled as she approached him.
"What's wrong?" he asked, confused why she was so happy.
"Aaron says there's a way out of here!" Kyra said.
"There is?" Sashi asked, overhearing the conversation.
"Yeah!" Kyra nodded, and showed everyone to where Aaron was. "See? His leaf is waving!" Kyra said.
"So that means fresh air is still entering this area..." Cath said.
"And all we need to do is break through this pile of rubble and we're free!" Sashi smiled as well.
"Then step aside please..." Metagross said from behind, making everyone turn.
"What are you planning?" Sashi asked.
"I am going to use my Meteor Mash to create a hole for you to fit through..." he replied.
"Okay..." Sashi nodded, and took a step back. The others soon followed. Metagross then took a step forwards, and closed his eyes. Then he lifted one of his paws, and then turned it in the direction in front of him. Then it started to glow an orange color, and that's when Metagross punched his paw forwards. Then his paw stopped suddenly, and it seemed like nothing had happened, when suddenly a hole was punched in the rubble. This caused several small pieces of rock to fly in all directions. Some pieces flew straight for Sashi and the others, as they all gasped and pulled their arms in front of their faces in order to protect themselves. Nothing happened after that, though, and Sashi slowly opened her eyes. All the pieces of rock were floating in the air, surrounded by a white aura. One of the Metang had used his Psychic to take control of the flying objects, saving Sashi and the others from being hit.
"Phew!" Sashi sighed, wiping her forehead clean of sweat.
"I apologize about that... It was not my intention for that to happen..." Metagross said.
"I know..." Sashi replied.
"You saved us..." Kyra said to the Metang, and knelt down, petting his head. "Thank you..." she said softly. The Metang slowly stopped its Psychic attack - making all the pieces fall to the ground - as he turned his head away slightly.
"Is he... Blushing?" Cath asked.
"Yes... I believe he is!" Sashi giggled.
"Looks like I'm not the only one being attracted by her beauty..." Aaron smiled as he thought this.
"He likes you..." Metagross said.
"Huh? How do you know?" Sashi asked.
"I can read minds, remember?" Metagross chuckled.
"Well I like you too... You look like a very strong Pokemon..." Kyra smiled. The Metang didn't reply.
"That Metang does not speak that much... It is hard to get to know him if you can not read minds... But he is indeed a very strong Pokemon... He is close to evolve into a Metagross any day now..." Metagross said, and then turned around again. "Now if you excuse me, I will continue on the tunnel..." he added, and used another Meteor Mash attack.
In a few minutes Metagross had made a pretty big hole in the pile of rubble, big enough for Sashi and the others to go through, but that didn't mean Metagross had made a hole leading out yet.
"How long until you can get through?" Sashi asked.
"I am not sure... I do not know exactly how big the destructed area is..." Metagross said, and just as he punched one more hole, light shined through.
"I think we're through!" Sashi smiled, as Metagross punched one more time. Immediately Sashi could feel fresh, cold air being sucked into the cave, and happily breathed it in.
"Alright!" Eevy cheered, and approached Sashi as she looked ahead. The tunnel was still intact, as if nothing had happened.
"Thank you so much for helping us..." Sashi said, turning around.
"I need to ask you a favor..." Metagross then said.
"What is it?"
"Could you rescue our Lord Suicune from those evil men?" Metagross said. "I am afraid we can not do much to save our Lord, since this whole place is surrounded by water and we can not swim..."
"Don't worry..." Sashi nodded, and smiled. "I was about to do that anyway... I feel it is my fault Suicune got caught, and so feel responsible to bring it back.."
"Thank you..." Metagross said.
"ACHOO!" the Treecko sneezed.
"Bless you.." Cath said.
"Th-thanks..." the Treecko said.
"So tell me something about you... Who are you? And why did you try to grab that Masterball? And... what's with the hair?" Cath asked all at once.
"I... I've seen everything that happened, and... I wanted to help..." he replied.
"But who are you?"
"M-my name's Indiana, bu-but my friends call me Indy... I've lived for a while with Bill, the Pokemaniac... I have hair, because... well...I accidentally "used" one of his machines, and that made hair grow on my head..."
"Interesting..." Cath nodded, and asked several more questions, which Indiana answered.
In the meantime, Sashi went exploring the tunnel.
"What in the..." she said as she suddenly came to a halt. In front of her were three different tunnels. "I didn't see these tunnels when we came in..."
"That is because this is another test..." Metagross said, appearing behind her.
"But I thought the battle was the only test?"
"In normal occasions, after the test, and after the participant has proven himself worthy to leave this temple, he is given a final test..."
"Which is?"
"Successfully leave this temple by going through a maze..." Metagross said.
"And how big is this maze?" Sashi asked.
"I am not sure.. It usually takes me half an hour to figure out the right way myself..." Metagross replied.
"Then... How do we find the way out?" Sashi asked.
"I show you..." Metagross said.
"But that way Team Aqua's certain to escape!"
"If they know the right way out..." Metagross smiled.
"I see..." Sashi smiled as well, and turned around. "Everybody! Come this way! Metagross will lead us out of this place!"
"Right!" everybody nodded, and started walking.
"Damn!" Archie growled when ending up at a dead end... again.
"Why don't we just blast our way out, sir?" an Aqua member asked.
"And how were you supposed to do that?" Archie asked, eying the man.
"With the help of Suicune's Ice Beam, sir..." the man replied.
"Have you witnessed Suicune's power? Its Ice Beam can make a whole cave collapse! You really think it's safe to use it here in this tunnel?" Archie growled. "We'd be crushed!"
"My apologies, sir..." the Aqua member said.
"Sir!" Matt called from the corner.
"What is it?"
"I've finally found the way through!" he said.
"Excellent work, Matt..." Archie grinned. "Lead the way..."
"A few more minutes, and then we have to take a right..." Metagross said, slowly moving forwards, his four feet stomping on the ground, creating small earthquakes. A few minutes later, they reached a T-junction; one tunnel going to the right, one to the left.
"So now we take a-"
"Straight ahead, sir!" Matt's voice interrupted Sashi's as Team Aqua walked past them.
"You!" Sashi said.
"You?!" Archie gasped.
"Oh boy..." Metagross groaned.
"Give us back Suicune!" Sashi growled.
"Matt!" Archie called, and Matt nodded once. He swiftly grabbed for something in his pockets, and threw it on the ground. A small explosion followed, and lots of smoke appeared in the air.
"Aaah!" Sashi gasped as the smoke appeared everywhere in the tunnel. Footsteps were heard running away as everybody held their hands in front of their mouths in order to not breathe in the smoke.
"They're getting away!" Cath coughed.
"Not if I can stop them!" Sashi said and started running forwards, into the smoke.
"Sashi, wait!" Eevy called, but then stopped as she coughed again.
Sashi ran through the tunnels, taking many turns, and finally reaching the exit, and just in time to see the submarine sinking into the water.
"NO!" Sashi cursed, running to the edge of the lake. "I'm too late!" she added...
To be continued...
Well that's finally over...
Sashi: No, they just escaped! How can it be over?
I was talking about this chapter...
Sashi: Oh...
And school sux!
Well, Chapter 34, and I've got something written down for this one...
Sashi: Then I better hope you'll finish this one a lot sooner than the last one...
Yeah, me too...
The whole area was silent right after Archie's last word had left his lips. Archie was grinning, and so were the Aqua members. Sashi didn't exactly think this was a time to grin. She felt shocked, confused, and betrayed to her trust.
"Excellent job, distracting these foolish Pokemon so that we could get in..." Archie said.
"So there never were any traps, were there?" Cath growled.
"Nope..." Archie chuckled. "Except for these pests using Psychic to gain control of our bodies..."
"Then I'm also sure that whatever's written on the door of this temple doesn't say that humans can't enter?" Cath said.
"Of course it does not..." Metagross said. "It says 'Evil may not enter'... I thought I had made that clear the last time you tried to come in this temple!" he added, his eyes glowing.
"What? I thought you said you didn't know Archie!" Sashi asked confused.
"Not by name..." Metagross replied.
"Oh..."
"Why have you lied to us?!" Eevy asked.
"We're the bad guys, we're supposed to lie!" Archie grinned back.
That's when the two Metang made their moves, but Archie was expecting this.
"If you move even ONE more inch," he began, and the Metang stopped dead, "Your precious leader will suffer the consequences..."
That's when Sashi saw the Aqua members had sent out their Pokemon. Few had brought out their Sharpedo, ready to use an Earthquake attack. Others had sent out their Mightyena. Even thought Dark attacks were normal, the Mightyena were Trained well, and could easily take Metagross down. All were growling at Metagross.
"Leave him alone!" Sashi cried.
"We're willing to let the creature live, in exchange that we-" Archie began, when suddenly he was interrupted by a loud roar that made everybody grasp for their ears, except for Metagross and Metang. When the roar stopped, Archie looked up, and smiled. "Ahhhh... Just what I was talking about..."
Sashi looked up at where Archie was looking, and gasped.
"S-Suicune!"
Suicune had its head lowered, its somewhat burning eyes focused on Archie.
"Al right," Archie said, and walked forwards, walking towards the growling Suicune. That's when he grabbed a Pokeball, and threw it in the air. "Go, Swampert!" Archie called, and the Pokeball opened. The white light that came out of it formed into a big shape. When the light faded, a big, muscular Pokemon with a long blue body and a lighter blue underbelly appeared. It had four appendages that were a cross between legs and fins. Each had an orange oval on it. It had large, fan-shaped fins above its eyes and a huge axe-like fin growing out of its behind as a prosaic tail would. It also had a pair of orange gills on either side of its face. It growled loud when released.
"A Swampert!" Cath gasped.
Suicune locked its eyes with Swampert, while Swampert did the same.
"Stop this!" Sashi cried while taking a step forwards.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you..." Archie said without turning his head. Sashi stopped moving, and growled.
"You are evil!"
"Thank you..." Archie replied. Then, suddenly, Suicune roared out loud again, making the ground shake softly. Everyone tried to control their balance as Suicune roared, when suddenly all the Pokemon that were out on the field (and water) were being returned into their Pokeballs. All, except Swampert.
"What's going on?" Sashi asked confused as she saw al the Pokemon disappear.
"Suicune is using its Roar attack..." Eevy said.
"Roar?"
"Yes... It makes all Pokemon within its reach be called back in their Pokeballs..."
"But how come Swampert is still out then?" Kyra asked.
Eevy, as everybody else, looked up to Swampert, and indeed, he hadn't returned into his Pokeball.
"Hey... You're right..." Eevy said. "Why is that?" she asked no one.
"Lord Suicune knows how to decide which of its opponents need to take part in this battle..." Metagross said as he approached Sashi and the others.
"You mean he can decide which Pokemon will be affected by Roar?" Cath asked.
"Correct..."
"Then this is the perfect opportunity!" Espeon said from below Sashi.
"Mmmm? What is?" Sashi asked confused.
"To attack Archie!" Espeon smiled.
"How?"
"You see, Roar has returned everyone into their Pokeballs, right?" Espeon asked.
"Yes?"
"Well I'm still out..." Espeon winked.
"What in the..." all Team Aqua members said as they saw their Pokemon being returned into their Pokeballs. Immediately they all grabbed for the Pokeballs to bring their Pokemon out again, when...
"Stop!" Archie said, making everybody in the cave freeze. "This," he added, turning his head towards Suicune, "Is between Suicune and me..."
This stopped everyone, and they let go of their Pokeballs.
"So we meet again..." Suicune's gentle voice spoke. Its voice sounded comfortable, and it gave Sashi the feeling she didn't need to worry. As if reading her mind, Suicune looked at Sashi for a second. "Same goes for you, young Trainer..."
Sashi didn't know what to say to this, so she kept herself quiet.
"I ask for you to stay out of this..." Suicune then said.
"So what should I do?" Espeon asked impatiently, grinning as she felt ready to attack.
"Nothing..." Sashi replied.
Espeon raised her head to her Trainer.
"Nothing?" Espeon repeated.
"That's right..."
"Why not?"
"You heard Suicune... It said we should stay out of this..." Sashi said.
"Yeah, I know, but..." Espeon said. "What if Suicune loses?"
"We won't know until we actually see it lose..."
"Well... I agree, you have a point there..."
"Calm down, Espeon..." Sashi smiled, and petted her head.
"You think we should help?" Umbreon asked his Trainer. Hearing no reply, he looked up. "Brian?" he said, while turning his head. Brian wasn't paying attention to him. He just stared straight ahead of himself with a shocked look on his face. "Brian, what's wrong?" Umbreon asked. Cath turned her head when she heard Umbreon say that.
"Brian?" she asked, approaching him, softly shaking his shoulder with her hand. This made Brian turn his head slightly. "What's wrong?" she asked, repeating Umbreon's question.
"Team Aqua... is... evil.." he replied softly.
"Yes, I know that..." Cath said. "But what does that have to do with why you are acting like this?"
"He's... One of them..." Brian said.
"What? Who is?" Cath asked confused.
Brian didn't reply immediately.
"Brian? Who is one of them?" Cath asked again.
"Ethan..." Brian replied, and Cath gasped. "Ethan..." Brian said again.
"It's time for me to do what I came for..." Archie said. "Swampert! Use Stomp!"
Swampert nodded once, and then leapt forwards, pulling one of his paws back. Suicune didn't move... yet. The second Swampert pushed his arm forwards, Suicune jumped up so fast it seemed like it vanished into thin air. Swampert, still thinking he would hit Suicune, slammed his arm down, punching a hole in the cavern floor.
"Damn!" Archie growled when he realized Suicune had jumped behind Swampert. Suicune opened its mouth wide, and suddenly a white ball of energy appeared in it. "Swampert! Dodge that Attack!" Archie called, and Swampert jumped forwards. But just as he wanted to turn around, Suicune shot its Ice Beam attack on him. Swampert didn't expect the Ice Beam to be shot this fast, and did everything he could to dodge the attack. He failed... partly. Suicune's Ice Beam attack was able to hit his leg. Immediately the ice started to cover most of his leg, and this caused Swampert to fall down to the ground faster. "Damn you!" Archie growled. "Shake that ice off your leg and attack with Iron Tail!"
Swampert complied, and slammed his hind foot down on the ground fast, making the ice crack. When all broke, it fell to the ground, and his leg was free. That's when he jumped forwards fast, even though his leg was recently injured. His tail started to glow bright, and he seemed to turn his body around slightly. Once again, Suicune didn't move, and once again, it jumped out of the way of Swampert's attack, his tail smashing into a big rock, turning it to rubble. That's when Suicune landed on the ground, its eyes glowing a bright, blue color and its head lowered.
"Swampert! Us-" Archie began when Suicune's mouth opened wide. All of a sudden, lots of snow and hail came out, as well as sharp pieces of ice. Suicune moved so fast, it didn't give Swampert time to recover from smashing into a rock. Swampert had just landed on the ground, and was able to turn around quick enough to see the attack approaching. It hit him hard, and he closed his eyes tight as he tried to withstand the sheer cold that was surrounding his body. Luckily for him, the sharp pieces of ice didn't hit him, otherwise the fight would probably have been over.
"Enough of this!" Archie growled. He was starting to become angry and impatient. "Swampert! Use Rock Slide!"
Swampert nodded, and lowered his head. Then he jumped up real hard and high, reaching the ceiling of the cave. There he punched a hole in it, making the whole area shake a little. This caused several pieces of rock to fall down in all directions. Even as hard as Suicune tried to dodge everything that came in its area, it couldn't help itself from getting hurt. It made it fall down on the ground.
"This is your chance! Use Hydro Pump!" Archie called, and while falling down, Swampert arched his back, and then pushed his head forwards, opening his mouth. A second later, a big beam of water was shot at Suicune.
When all the rocks had finally stopped falling, Suicune shook its head and got off the ground. When it saw the beam of water approaching, it quickly countered with its Hydro Pump attack, making a big explosion of water appear. Everybody in the area jumped out of the way as millions of drops of water fell on the floor. The second Swampert landed on the ground, Suicune made its move. It jumped forwards, its mouth opened wide, its teeth visible.
"Swampert! Use Protect!" Archie grinned.
Swampert nodded, and held his arms crossed before his face, glowing brightly for a second. Normally, a barrier would appear, sending the opponent crashing into it. But even though Protect is an attack that works most of the time, sometimes it lets you down. Like now. The barrier didn't appear. Suicune attack wasn't stopped. Protect failed. Suicune, noticing Protect didn't work, opened its mouth even wider while approaching Swampert, and then dug its teeth deep into Swampert's neck. This caused Swampert to groan in pain as Suicune finished its attack, jumping back rapidly while keeping its guard up in case Swampert made a sudden move. Not that Swampert could, though. He had lost a big part of his energy to all Suicune's attacks, and was almost down for the count.
"Swampert... Use Recover..." Archie said.
Swampert closed his eyes, and started glowing. A few seconds later, all the injuries he had were gone.
Suicune looked at Swampert, and then suddenly jumped back, behind a big rock.
"What's Suicune doing?" Archie thought when Suicune didn't return. He waited a few more seconds before calling; "Swampert! Go find that Pokemon!"
Swampert started walking, when suddenly the ground beneath him shook a little. A few seconds later Swampert was thrown into the air hard. It appeared Suicune used Dig, and used it behind the rock to surprise its foe. And it worked. Swampert went flying through the air, before roughly crashing with his head into another big rock with sharp ends, making clouds of smoke appear.
"Get up!" Archie growled.
When the smoke cleared Archie gasped. Swampert's head was bleeding.
"Arrrrgh! You're gonna pay for that! Swampert! Use Recover again!" Archie growled.
Swampert complied, and started glowing again. The wound in his head soon closed, and disappeared, as if nothing had happened. Suicune took this time to jump behind the same rock it jumped behind before.
"Oh no you don't! Not again! Swampert! Use Mimic!" Archie ordered. After Swampert was fully recovered, it glowed again, and then started digging in the ground, until it had made a hole big enough for him to go through. Then he dug deeper, until it was under ground.
Everyone patiently waited for what was to come. They could hear sounds from underneath, so they assumed Suicune and Swampert were fighting there. Things continued like this for a couple more minutes, until a loud crash ended all. Next, Suicune's body came flying out of the ground by a big beam of water, making it crash into the ceiling. Archie grinned and grabbed for something. Sashi had only one second to take a good look at what Archie grabbed for, and gasped as he threw a Masterball at the falling Suicune.
"NO!" Sashi called as the Masterball hit Suicune. Sparks of light appeared and surrounded Suicune as it turned into a red light. Then it was sucked into the tiny ball, as it closed, and fell to the ground. It shook a couple of times, before it came to a stop.
"This can not be..." Metagross said softly.
Archie laughed out loud as he walked over to the Masterball lying on the ground, and then grabbed it.
"You see, Suicune," Archie grinned, looking at the Masterball he held in his hand, "I've learned from our previous encounters... You may be very quick in open air, but you're not inside a cave..."
"NOW can we fight?!" Espeon said.
"GO!" Sashi called.
"Alright!" Espeon smiled as she started running.
"I'm going too, Brian!" Umbreon said, and also started running.
Archie looked at the couple approaching him, and grinned. Without saying a word, he threw the Masterball into the air, and a few seconds later, it opened. White light came out, and landed on the ground. It then formed into the shape of Suicune. When the light faded, Espeon and Umbreon stopped.
Suicune stood there, head lowered, not making a move.
"Oh no... Not Suicune..." Sashi said. "Already I know they won't stand a chance... not against Suicune..."
Then Suicune raised its head, and glared at the two Eon Pokemon a little distant ahead of it. Suicune's eyes looked different than before. Before it was filled with anger about Archie entering its sacred temple, but this time... There was no emotion at all.
"Ehhhh... S-Sashi?" Espeon asked nervous. "What should I do?"
"Nothing..." Sashi said.
"What? Why?"
"Because there's nothing you can do..." Archie said, making Espeon turn her head. "If you go into a battle with Suicune, you're done for!" Archie grinned. "Let me show you what I mean... Suicune! Use Dig!"
Suicune complied, and didn't bother doing it behind a rock this time. Instead, it pushed its paws deep into the ground, and within a second, it was underground.
"Oh no!" Sashi said, panicking. She didn't want to fight Suicune, so she didn't order Espeon to. But now she had no choice. Since Suicune was attacking her, she had to make a move back. "Espeon! Look out! Suicune may come up any second now!"
"Brian?! A little help here!" Umbreon shouted, not having heard from his Trainer in a while now. Brian hadn't said anything since he found out about Ethan, and his face was still filled with shock.
"I think I'll take over for a while..." Kyra said when Brian didn't respond.
"I think that's the best option, I agree..." Umbreon said. Kyra smiled. This was her first time as a 'Trainer'. This time she could give orders instead of being the one taking them.
A second after these words left Umbreon's mouth, Suicune's Dig attack got to work. Suicune's head appeared out of nowhere, right underneath Umbreon.
"Umbreon!" Espeon gasped.
Umbreon flew through the air, making a summersault, and then landing on his feet.
"That all you can do?" Umbreon grinned.
"Phew!" Kyra said.
"Good work!" Espeon said, running over to him.
"As usual..." Umbreon replied.
"I think we should attack now..." Sashi said.
"But you said-"
"I know what I said, but since Suicune is fighting, we have no choice but to fight back..." Sashi said.
"Okay, ehh... Umbreon? Use... Use... What can you do, actually?"
"He can do Psychic, Faint attack, Shadow Ball and Mean Look..." Sashi said.
"Okay, ehh..." Kyra said again. "Use Psychic!" Kyra called.
"Good choice! You too Espeon!" Sashi called.
"Okay!" both Eons nodded, and lowered their heads. Suddenly their eyes started glowing bright, and an aura surrounded their bodies. Suddenly, an unseen force was shot at Suicune. First there were two different, but then the two Psychics combined, forming a bigger force, one that left a trail of dust behind.
"Dodge that attack, and use Ice Beam!" Archie called, and Suicune jumped out of the way of the combined Psychic attack, and opened its mouth wide.
"Look out!" Sashi and Kyra called. Espeon and Umbreon stopped their attacks, just as Suicune fired its beam. Luckily, Umbreon got out of the way, but unfortunately for Espeon, she was unable to dodge. The beam hit her body, and the ice started surrounding her, until she was completely covered up in it.
"NO!" both Sashi and Umbreon cried.
"She's..." Eevy began.
"Frozen solid..." Archie grinned.
Sashi ran over to her Pokemon, and knelt down.
"Espeon... Don't worry... I'll get you out..." she said, and grabbed for a Full Restore. She aimed it at Espeon, and then sprayed. Immediately the ice on Espeon's body began to melt slowly, as a puddle of water appeared underneath her. Then she fell to the ground, eyes closed, shivering like mad, but not conscious.
"Here," Sashi said, taking off her jacket, and laying it over Espeon, "This'll keep you warm..."
"Espeon..." Umbreon whispered as he saw his love lying on the ground, unconscious. Suddenly, it seemed like fire started burning in his eyes, ad he locked gazes with Suicune.
"You're gonna pay for that!"
Suicune didn't reply, as Umbreon slowly started walking forwards.
"Umbreon! Don't do any foolish things!" Sashi said, but Umbreon didn't hear this. The only thing he was focused on was Suicune. He started running now, preparing a Quick Attack, going faster and faster. "No Umbreon! Don't!" Sashi called, but Umbreon was already going too fast to stop now. Not that anything could stop him. Just as he was about to hit Suicune, Suicune did Roar. Everyone grasped for their ears again as the loud sound echoed through the cave. Suddenly, the surprised Umbreon started glowing, before completely turning into a red light, and that light shot back into a Pokeball on Brian's belt. Brian felt this, and gasped as he got out of his shock and looked down.
"Oh no..." he said.
"Now that that is taken care of, you're next..." Archie grinned, looking at everybody.
"Woooohoooooo!" a high pitched voice suddenly shouted, making everybody look up. Then, a small, green creature with a big and thick green tail jumped down from a rock, onto Archie's head.
"What the?!" everybody, but especially Archie gasped. Sashi looked closer. She saw it was a Treecko that had landed on Archie's head. But not an ordinary Treecko. A Treecko with green hair, wearing a headband.
"A Treecko?" Sashi said to herself.
The Treecko started slamming his tail, hitting Archie everywhere he could. When Archie had enough of this, he started grabbing for him.
"Get off you little pest!" he growled, reaching up his hands. The Treecko smiled, and made a little hop as Archie's hand missed him. Then he took his chance, grabbed the Masterball Archie was holding, and then jumped off his head.
"What the?!" Cath gasped, as she noticed what the Treecko had done.
The Treecko started running, until he came to a stop.
"Give that back!" Archie growled, realizing the Masterball wasn't in his hand anymore.
The Treecko looked over his shoulder, his eyes half closed, and grinned.
"No..." he said.
"What's... going on?" Kyra asked.
Archie growled, and approached the Treecko slowly.
"Give... me... that... Masterball!" he said, but just as he got close enough to the Treecko, he just jumped away from Archie.
Meanwhile, Suicune's eyes hadn't left the Treecko for a second. They were still looking straight at him as he jumped around happily, dodging Archie's grasping hands.
"OKAY! That's it!" Archie cried. "Suicune! Turn this annoyance into an ice statue!"
Suicune obeyed, and opened its mouth, where a beam of ice appeared a second later.
"Whoa!" the Treecko gasped, dodging the beam, making it hit the wall. "Slow down, doggy!"
But Suicune didn't. It fired another beam, making the Treecko jump high in the sky, hitting the wall again and again.
"Guess not!" the Treecko said as Suicune fired yet another beam. He dodged even more Ice Beams as all missed him, hitting the wall, and some parts of the ceiling. Then the Treecko jumped over Suicune, directly towards Sashi and the others. Suicune tried to hit the Treecko with his Ice Beam, but missed, and hit the ceiling again a couple of times. Suicune didn't stop its Ice Beam attack this time, however, but continued to use it, making a line of ice cover the ceiling. When the beam came too close for the Treecko to dodge, it hit the tip of his tail, and he felt the cold ice surround it.
"Hey!" the Treecko groaned, landing on the ground, his face turned away from Suicune. "That's cold!" he said, turning his head. That's when he discovered Suicune had shot a final Ice Beam straight at him, and it hit his body. This made him drop the Masterball, as his body turned into ice, something Grass types really hate.
"FINALLY!" Archie growled as Suicune stopped its Ice Beam. Archie then walked over to the frozen Treecko, and reached for the Masterball. When he had it, he kicked the statue of ice, making it slide over the cavern floor. Luckily for the Treecko this didn't make the ice crack or fall apart, or else he would've died.
"Now, to finish you off-" Archie began, when suddenly there was a loud crack, coming from the ceiling. The Ice Beam attack had frozen all the parts of the wall and ceiling it had hit, and that was now falling apart.
"This looks bad!" Sashi said, looking up. At this rate, the whole ceiling might fall apart.
Archie also sensed danger.
"Men! Retreat!" he called, and all Aqua members nodded as they ran to the tunnel they arrived in. "You two! Return!" Archie said to Suicune and Swampert as he aimed their balls at them. Swampert soon returned into his Pokeball, and Suicune returned into his Masterball. "It seems this saves me the trouble of taking you out myself..." Archie laughed as he escaped through the tunnel as well, while more pieces of frozen ice fell to the floor.
"We gotta get out of here!" Sashi called to everyone. She grabbed Espeon off the ground, and started running to the tunnel.
"Let's go Brian!" Kyra said, pulling his arm and taking him with her.
"Wait for me!" Aaron called, almost running faster than everybody else. Just as he was about to enter the tunnel, a large piece of the ceiling fell down right in front of it.
"NOOOOO! SO close!" Aaron cried.
"There's no other way out!" Sashi gasped, quickly looking around.
"Hurry!" Metagross said, slowly approaching the group. "Gather around me! I shall use my Barrier to protect you!"
Without having another choice, Sashi nodded, and, together with the rest, she ran to Metagross. The second they were close enough to his body, Metagross glowed, and a barrier of light soon covered them all. That's when the caver really started to collapse. More and more pieces started to fall, crashing down on the floor. Several parts also fell onto the Barrier, and that made Aaron flinch.
"Do not worry.. Nothing has ever gone through my Barrier..." Metagross said, as the area around them slowly got covered with debris...
Silence was all that was left after a few minutes. Well, silence, dust, and lots of broken parts of rock and ice. Suddenly, the pile Sashi and the others were under started to fall apart as Metagross slowly floated up. The torches had gone out because of the whole cave collapsing, so the room was pitch black. Sashi quickly brought out Ninetales, and she lit them again.
"Whoa..." Eevy said after this, looking at all the destruction around her.
"Thank you for saving our lives, Metagross..." Sashi said.
"Not a problem, young Trainer..." Metagross smiled.
"Now what do we do?" Kyra asked.
"Let's try and find another way out..." Sashi said as she laid Espeon down on the ground.
"There we go.." Cath said, and laid something down on the ground. Brian looked closer, and saw it was the ice statue of the Treecko.
"You saved him?" Brian asked.
"Would you have let him die?" Cath eyed Brian.
"No, of course not..."
"Oh, it's that Treecko..." Eevy said, approaching the two.
"Yeah, I managed to grab him before the ceiling collapsed..." Cath said. "Do you have a Full Restore for him?"
"Of course..." Eevy smiled, and reached for her backpack. She took a Full Restore out, and gave it to Cath.
"Thanks..." she said, and sprayed it on the Treecko. Just like with Espeon, the ice started to melt immediately, and soon the Treecko was free, shivering like mad. "Here..." Cath said, took off her coat, and put it around the Treecko.
"T-t-t-t-th-thanks..." the Treecko stuttered.
"It's no use... There's no other way out then from where we came... And that way is blocked.." Kyra said as she and Aaron stood in front of the pile of rubble that once used to be entrance.
"But not completely... I can still feel fresh air..." Aaron said.
"You can?" Kyra asked confused.
"Yeah... Look at my leaf..." Aaron said, and nodded up. The leaf on Aaron's head was slowly waving from side to side.
"Wow! That's awesome!" Kyra smiled.
"Thanks..." Aaron blushed.
"I'll go tell the others!" Kyra said, and ran away.
"MAN she's cute!" Aaron thought, looking at Kyra running.
"Hey Brian!" Kyra smiled as she approached him.
"What's wrong?" he asked, confused why she was so happy.
"Aaron says there's a way out of here!" Kyra said.
"There is?" Sashi asked, overhearing the conversation.
"Yeah!" Kyra nodded, and showed everyone to where Aaron was. "See? His leaf is waving!" Kyra said.
"So that means fresh air is still entering this area..." Cath said.
"And all we need to do is break through this pile of rubble and we're free!" Sashi smiled as well.
"Then step aside please..." Metagross said from behind, making everyone turn.
"What are you planning?" Sashi asked.
"I am going to use my Meteor Mash to create a hole for you to fit through..." he replied.
"Okay..." Sashi nodded, and took a step back. The others soon followed. Metagross then took a step forwards, and closed his eyes. Then he lifted one of his paws, and then turned it in the direction in front of him. Then it started to glow an orange color, and that's when Metagross punched his paw forwards. Then his paw stopped suddenly, and it seemed like nothing had happened, when suddenly a hole was punched in the rubble. This caused several small pieces of rock to fly in all directions. Some pieces flew straight for Sashi and the others, as they all gasped and pulled their arms in front of their faces in order to protect themselves. Nothing happened after that, though, and Sashi slowly opened her eyes. All the pieces of rock were floating in the air, surrounded by a white aura. One of the Metang had used his Psychic to take control of the flying objects, saving Sashi and the others from being hit.
"Phew!" Sashi sighed, wiping her forehead clean of sweat.
"I apologize about that... It was not my intention for that to happen..." Metagross said.
"I know..." Sashi replied.
"You saved us..." Kyra said to the Metang, and knelt down, petting his head. "Thank you..." she said softly. The Metang slowly stopped its Psychic attack - making all the pieces fall to the ground - as he turned his head away slightly.
"Is he... Blushing?" Cath asked.
"Yes... I believe he is!" Sashi giggled.
"Looks like I'm not the only one being attracted by her beauty..." Aaron smiled as he thought this.
"He likes you..." Metagross said.
"Huh? How do you know?" Sashi asked.
"I can read minds, remember?" Metagross chuckled.
"Well I like you too... You look like a very strong Pokemon..." Kyra smiled. The Metang didn't reply.
"That Metang does not speak that much... It is hard to get to know him if you can not read minds... But he is indeed a very strong Pokemon... He is close to evolve into a Metagross any day now..." Metagross said, and then turned around again. "Now if you excuse me, I will continue on the tunnel..." he added, and used another Meteor Mash attack.
In a few minutes Metagross had made a pretty big hole in the pile of rubble, big enough for Sashi and the others to go through, but that didn't mean Metagross had made a hole leading out yet.
"How long until you can get through?" Sashi asked.
"I am not sure... I do not know exactly how big the destructed area is..." Metagross said, and just as he punched one more hole, light shined through.
"I think we're through!" Sashi smiled, as Metagross punched one more time. Immediately Sashi could feel fresh, cold air being sucked into the cave, and happily breathed it in.
"Alright!" Eevy cheered, and approached Sashi as she looked ahead. The tunnel was still intact, as if nothing had happened.
"Thank you so much for helping us..." Sashi said, turning around.
"I need to ask you a favor..." Metagross then said.
"What is it?"
"Could you rescue our Lord Suicune from those evil men?" Metagross said. "I am afraid we can not do much to save our Lord, since this whole place is surrounded by water and we can not swim..."
"Don't worry..." Sashi nodded, and smiled. "I was about to do that anyway... I feel it is my fault Suicune got caught, and so feel responsible to bring it back.."
"Thank you..." Metagross said.
"ACHOO!" the Treecko sneezed.
"Bless you.." Cath said.
"Th-thanks..." the Treecko said.
"So tell me something about you... Who are you? And why did you try to grab that Masterball? And... what's with the hair?" Cath asked all at once.
"I... I've seen everything that happened, and... I wanted to help..." he replied.
"But who are you?"
"M-my name's Indiana, bu-but my friends call me Indy... I've lived for a while with Bill, the Pokemaniac... I have hair, because... well...I accidentally "used" one of his machines, and that made hair grow on my head..."
"Interesting..." Cath nodded, and asked several more questions, which Indiana answered.
In the meantime, Sashi went exploring the tunnel.
"What in the..." she said as she suddenly came to a halt. In front of her were three different tunnels. "I didn't see these tunnels when we came in..."
"That is because this is another test..." Metagross said, appearing behind her.
"But I thought the battle was the only test?"
"In normal occasions, after the test, and after the participant has proven himself worthy to leave this temple, he is given a final test..."
"Which is?"
"Successfully leave this temple by going through a maze..." Metagross said.
"And how big is this maze?" Sashi asked.
"I am not sure.. It usually takes me half an hour to figure out the right way myself..." Metagross replied.
"Then... How do we find the way out?" Sashi asked.
"I show you..." Metagross said.
"But that way Team Aqua's certain to escape!"
"If they know the right way out..." Metagross smiled.
"I see..." Sashi smiled as well, and turned around. "Everybody! Come this way! Metagross will lead us out of this place!"
"Right!" everybody nodded, and started walking.
"Damn!" Archie growled when ending up at a dead end... again.
"Why don't we just blast our way out, sir?" an Aqua member asked.
"And how were you supposed to do that?" Archie asked, eying the man.
"With the help of Suicune's Ice Beam, sir..." the man replied.
"Have you witnessed Suicune's power? Its Ice Beam can make a whole cave collapse! You really think it's safe to use it here in this tunnel?" Archie growled. "We'd be crushed!"
"My apologies, sir..." the Aqua member said.
"Sir!" Matt called from the corner.
"What is it?"
"I've finally found the way through!" he said.
"Excellent work, Matt..." Archie grinned. "Lead the way..."
"A few more minutes, and then we have to take a right..." Metagross said, slowly moving forwards, his four feet stomping on the ground, creating small earthquakes. A few minutes later, they reached a T-junction; one tunnel going to the right, one to the left.
"So now we take a-"
"Straight ahead, sir!" Matt's voice interrupted Sashi's as Team Aqua walked past them.
"You!" Sashi said.
"You?!" Archie gasped.
"Oh boy..." Metagross groaned.
"Give us back Suicune!" Sashi growled.
"Matt!" Archie called, and Matt nodded once. He swiftly grabbed for something in his pockets, and threw it on the ground. A small explosion followed, and lots of smoke appeared in the air.
"Aaah!" Sashi gasped as the smoke appeared everywhere in the tunnel. Footsteps were heard running away as everybody held their hands in front of their mouths in order to not breathe in the smoke.
"They're getting away!" Cath coughed.
"Not if I can stop them!" Sashi said and started running forwards, into the smoke.
"Sashi, wait!" Eevy called, but then stopped as she coughed again.
Sashi ran through the tunnels, taking many turns, and finally reaching the exit, and just in time to see the submarine sinking into the water.
"NO!" Sashi cursed, running to the edge of the lake. "I'm too late!" she added...
To be continued...
Well that's finally over...
Sashi: No, they just escaped! How can it be over?
I was talking about this chapter...
Sashi: Oh...
And school sux!