It was a difficult day— difficult because Michiko’s car had broken down during a shopping trip to Verdanturf, and now she had to carry her entire Seasonal Spring Wardrobe back through Rusturf Tunnel on foot. To be fair, her Machamp was the one actually carrying them, but it was still difficult.

Michi couldn’t stand Rusturf Tunnel. Her mother had used to take her through there as a child to visit friends in the nearby town, and the Whismur had always chased her when she got too close. Nowadays, with all the noise and traffic the tunnel got, the Whismur had all moved away, seeking deeper, quieter caverns in the earth and stone.

Some people might have seen that as a sign the native fauna of Hoenn were slowly disappearing, but Michi was secretly happy they were gone.

The older woman trudged along with her shawl wrapped tightly around her shoulders, her headlamp casting a warm orange light ahead of her. It is a good thing I had many climbing equipment in the trunk, she thought, clambering her way over a place where the rock had crumbled and left a messy heap across the smooth tunnel floor. Yet again, her spelunking hobby— and her husband’s penchant for dropping everything to explore ancient ruins at the drop of a hat— had saved the day.

Matchan also had a headlamp, and the four-armed Pokemon (all four of his arms were filled with designer brand shopping bags) easily kept up with the slower woman as they walked down the tunnel together. Michi didn’t seem bothered at all, but the Machamp wondered where all the people were today. Normally, the path was better maintained and well-traveled. Was there a national holiday they’d forgotten about? They hadn’t come across a single other traveler— up until now.

Jim Kirk

Without the normal bustle of pedestrians that occupied this tunnel, Jim found himself enjoying the rather peaceful walk. A small little acorn trundled ahead of him, his Seedot exploring the cave ahead. The area around them was inexplicably brighter than the rest of the cave, and the luminescence seemed to travel with the pair. Over his life, Jim had found out some interesting things about the abilities of their companions. Such as this: [SUNNY DAY] didn't have to be used outside. Though faint, the effect of the move was enough to give enough light for them to see with.

It was a strange phenomena, and one that had Jim had been contemplating as he walked. The tunnel was practically silent, his own footsteps being the only sounds amidst the ambient noises. It was almost a shock when he heard someone else coming up the tunnel, shaking him out of his thoughts. He smiled as he saw the beleaguered Machoke, all four arms full of shopping. That was certainly one way to utilize one of the strongest pokemon known. "Afternoon." he said, slowing down as he got closer. "Good to see another person, I thought I was the only one in here!" He smiled politely at the lady, about to say something more. He glanced over her shoulder, eyes narrowing as he saw something glint as it came into the light.

A floating sword, its sheath wrapped in the tassel, came towards them. A clattering could be heard from behind him, as some of the loose rubble in a pile fell off, a large, sand-colored head looked up, clambering out of the pile and towards them. As the Honedge and the Hippopotas closed towards them, the Seedot sprang forward, a dark energy glowing around it as it flew head first into the Honedge. Using [SUCKER PUNCH], he smashed into the flat of the blade. A resounding clang rang out through the tunnel as wood met steel. And even though the steel was haunted, the Seedot found out first hand why he should not have used a physical move against it.

He rolled back a couple of meters from the impact, leaving him sitting at Jims feet. "Your Machoke may need to put down his bags" He said to Michiko.

He thought longingly back to the nice, peaceful walk down the tunnel he had been enjoying. He held back a sigh, concentrating on the fight. It was good while it lasted at least.

michiko maeda

She had seen the light growing closer as Jim and the miniature sun approached, so Michi wasn't too startled when he suddenly greeted her. It was normal for travelers to exchange a friendly hello as they passed one another on a trail. "Yes, it is strange today," she agreed amiably, trying not to let her discomfort in the tunnel and irrational fear of Whismur get the best of her. "I also have not seen anyone..." Her eyes widened and she stopped, turning to look at the other passerby. "Maybe, the tunnel is closed today? I did not see a sign..."

Just because she hadn't seen it didn't mean it wasn't there, though. She'd been distraught enough with her car troubles that she might have easily missed a notice. She hadn't noticed any construction, however-- in fact, it had seemed like the opposite.

As it was dawning on her, the wild Pokemon-- which had been unusually aggressive in the tunnel lately-- finally showed themselves. Perhaps it was the echoing human voices that stirred the sleeping creatures. Michi saw Jim's Seedot slam into the sword. "Ouch!" she exclaimed sympathetically. At Jim's suggestion she brightened, spinning around. "Matchan! You can do it!"

As if to demonstrate how he could not do it, the Machamp shifted one of the bags to his other hands and made a halfhearted jab at the floating sword. His fist passed right through it, as if it was insubstantial. Michi deflated. "Ah, it is a ghost..."

Michiko was only discouraged for a moment before she pulled out another Pokeball. She needed something that would be able to see easily in the tunnel, and hit the ghost! "Moff, I choose you!" She tossed it forwards and a round, fluffy VENONAT appeared, landing on the stone. Its antennae twitched and it looked around itself owlishly.

"Stun Spore on... eee!" Hippopotas was coming up so fast! Michi's finger wavered midair away from the Honedge and towards the ground-type Pokemon. "There, hurry!"

Springing nimbly off the ground, Moff vibrated and sent a cloud of shimmering scales off her fur, settling on the Hippopotas. The rapidly-moving dirt trail ground to a halt as the hippo fought the paralysis, buying them precious time. "Hooray! Honedge too!" Michi cried, and the Venonat pattered towards the possessed weapon as well, waves of spores still wafting from her fuzzy body.

Jim Kirk

Pain. Excitement. Shame. Joy. Rage. Like minnows through the sea, these emotions flicked through the Seedots head as he impacted off of the Honedge. He WOULD prove himself today, and show that he was ready for active duty. His first attack SHOULD have worked, right? It was a dark type move against a ghost! Obviously this Honedge was a liar and a cheater and should not be allowed to fight. Instead, the Seedot turned to the enroaching Hippopotas. Now this... THIS was a pokemon he could comfortably crush. With the light shining down on him, everything was ready. The glow of the sun would intensify around the Seedot, the glow seeming to be brought into his own body. Almost a miniature sun in truth, the light of their life-giving star transcending into the harsh beams of death that they truly were, catalyzed in his tiny form.

Locked in place by the Venonats Stun Powder, there was nothing the Hippopotas could do but watch in fear. And Seedot stared back. A thought would thunder through his mind. A single idea, one to unleash destruction onto the Hippopotas that had tried sneaking towards them.

[SOLA-

Light would flash in the dark tunnel, and... nothing. The Hippopotas was still concious, it's eyes closed, waiting for the eradicating blast of sunlight. He would open his eyes, only to find Seedot gone. Jim stood there with a pokeball in his hand, the other one pinching the bridge of his nose as he gently shook his head. "Using a solar beam in the middle of a cave... trying to take us all down with it." he muttered to himself. Another small flash, and in the Seedots place was a small rotund blob of blue fur. Encke clapped his flippers together, his delight at being out to play obvious to all who were watching.

"Alright, Encke. [BLIZZARD]" A line split across the spheal, as he opened a mouth that seemed too large for the body that housed it. Condensation gathered around, and a blue glow could be seen deep in its maw. The small drops of liquid would crystalize, the clattering of a few of them hitting the ground before the glow expanded and exploded out. A blast of icy wind, carrying pellets of hail and flurries of snow blased the Hippopotas, who had gone from thanking his luck to cursing it once again.

michiko maeda

There was a flash—

Michi stood blinking, as dazed as the Hippopotas. “What happened?” she asked, looking around.

She understood a moment later, and brightened when she saw the little troll of an acorn had been replaced by a much more adorable Spheal. She thought Spheal were one of the cutest Pokemon in Hoenn— as a child, she’d always begged her mother to take her to the exhibit in Littleroot Town to see them at the laboratory. It had gotten boring after many weekly visits, however, and now Michi had the same feelings towards the rotund ice-type that one might towards a celebrity you liked in elementary school. Nostalgic. But a little cringey. Flashbacks to spheal halloween costumes, spheal birthday cakes, insisting on playing Spheal in the school play—

Pulling herself from her Spheal reverie, Michi saw a tuft of purple fur go flying past as the Honedge sheared its edge down Moff’s body in a SLASH attack. “Oh, that’s bad!” the woman cried, hands flying to her mouth in shock. The Stun Spore hadn’t worked? Maybe because it does not breathe, she thought doubtfully.

The bug-type rolled, then hopped back up. Moff seemed all right despite her injury, and Michi lacked the gumption to make a call and return the Venonat. She looked to Matchan for help instead. 

<Ma, ma...> the Machamp answered, waggling a hand as if to say ‘could go either way.’ 

<Veno,> Moff said, sitting down on the cave floor. Her injury was painful, and she wasn’t eager to go rushing back into melee range of the Honedge— her heart wasn’t in battling to begin with, but maybe there was still something she could do. <NAAAAAAAT!>

Her antennae trembled, and the creature’s disc-shaped, compound eyes glowed with red light. The sword blade glowed as well as the FORESIGHT took effect.

<Na-nat, veee!>

Matchan didn’t have to be told twice. He shifted Michi’s shopping bags to one of his lower arms and was on the sword in a heartbeat. The Honedge barely had time to blink before three fists were in its face, the ghost’s Fighting-type immunity canceled out by the previous move. Punches rained down on the steel, which had already taken a dent earlier from the Seedot. The haunted blade tried to defend itself with its sheathe, but three fists were too much for it to parry. 

It clattered to the ground, inert.

“Oh! I know—” Michi rummaged in her purse, hoping she had some Pokeballs left over from the last 6-pack she’d bought. She found one and held it aloft. “Tadaa! Now it can not wake up and attack us again!”

She tossed the ball, then looked around for Jim, rubbing her shoulders. When had it gotten so cold in the tunnel?

Maybe she shouldn’t have put away her winter wardrobe so soon.  

Jim Kirk

CATCHING HONEDGE!

Frost coalesced on the Hippopotas's skin as it was blasted by the freezing deluge. After only a few seconds its energy had been sapped by the cold, and the [BLIZZARD] ended. Enckes mouth snapped shut, a smug look on his face as he somehow looked down on the Hippopotas, despite being smaller than it. Everyone underestimated Encke, and he delighted in proving them wrong. Jim let out a little puff of misted breath, the temperature being even colder closer to the source. Luckily, it soon started to warm up again, the effect of [SUNNY DAY] still lingering from earlier.

He walked over, crouching down in front of the Hippopotas. He wasn't really sure what to do with it. "Well? What do you think?" Encke rolled over, placing himself beside Jim, and clapping his flippers a couple of times. He smiled, giving the spheal a scratch on the head, and pulled out an empty pokeball. He tapped it against the unconcious Hippopotas, the frozen hippo being absorbed into the pokeball. "I'll take it to a pokecenter first to get it healed at least. Can decide what to do after that." He spoke to Encke softly, almost to himself, as he turned to see how the other fight was going.

Though gone might be more accurate. The battle was ending as he turned, the Machamp putting the finishing blows on the Honedge. The floating blade was quickly sucked into a pokeball as well, and the previously loud tunnel descended into silence. He took in the strange scene, his brow creasing with worry when he saw Moff. "Is she alright? Pythia can heal her if she's injured."

michiko maeda

Who is Pythia? Michi wondered, Is she his wife? Perhaps she was a nurse who could heal hurt Pokemon!

Michi had never had one of her Pokemon get hurt while battling before, and she was at a loss for what to do. It was easy to submit to the stranger’s confident demeanor. The woman visibly shrunk, nodding her head. “Oh... yes, that would be good,” she said earnestly. “Moff does not look happy too much...”

Moff was not happy, but being out of harm’s way was a nice change of pace. She sighed in relief, twitching her antennae, and submitted herself to Jim’s inspection. Michiko personally didn’t want to look at the wound— what if there was blood?! Do Venonat bleed? She wasn’t sure if bug-types had blood. Maybe that was a strange thing to be thinking about...

“Thank you for your help,” the older woman said politely as she bent down to collect the Honedge’s Pokeball. Maybe it would be a nice gift for her mother— Etsuko had many family swords in her bedroom. Perhaps she would also enjoy a ghost sword? “Oh! I forget to introduce— my name is Michiko! I live in Petalburg City, but today I went to Verdanturf Town. But there are too many Pokemon...”

As if to punctuate her observation, something began tap-tap-tapping farther down the tunnel. A small, horned shape was making its way towards them, drumming some kind of club against the cavern floor. “Eee... Matchan, catch it!” the woman exclaimed, dreading whatever weapon-slinging Whismur was on its way.

Still holding her shopping bags, the Machamp jogged down the hallway and returned holding a struggling Cubone, its bone club held tactically far away by one of the fighting-type’s other arms. Michi sighed in relief, glad it was nothing so scary. “Oh, Cubone,” she said aloud, racing heart returning to normal. It was lucky that she had heard it coming, or it might have snuck up on them like Honedge and Hippopotas had! “Cubone... I like this character a little! I wonder, do you know ‘Strange Dungeon’—”

She stopped, realizing Jim was close to her age. An older man probably wouldn’t be interested in children’s comic books, right? Cubone wasn’t an important character, but it was drawn in a cute way in the manga, so maybe she thought she would like it.

“Is it okay if I catch?” she asked Jim, changing the subject and waiting for his answer. Since Matchan had grabbed it so easily, it was probably a little weak. She wondered if there was something wrong in the tunnel that was making these Pokemon all come out and act this way.

“Pokeball, go!”

She lobbed the capsule underhand, still thinking about ‘Strange Dungeon’ and the even stranger tunnel.

Jim Kirk
CATCHING CUBONE!