Chapter 19
"Exploration"

Soon it was revealed that the only one with a Pokémon both large enough and with the ability to swim across the body of water was Atelli, who had Dewy, the Dewgong. This proved to be a problem as Dewy could only carry one person at a time. Dewy was well-trained and strong, but every Pokémon has it's limits. This led to some disagreements.
"How will we all get across?" Monty stared across the unbroken body of water. Indigo was getting irritable.
"Why should we go anyway? Mewtwo says there's nothing there."
"I did not say that." the Mewtwo's eyes glowed softly. "I simply stated that I felt something was over there, and that I did not think it feasible that it was."
"Well, I don't care if it's there or not." Colt said, getting just as frustrated as everyone else. The day was hot, long, and seemingly without direction. This was fraying everyone's nerves. "Let's just go and look, okay? It won't hurt."
"Atelli, do you remember whether something was over there?" Ella E asked her sister with distaste. Atelli returned it in kind.
"I don't remember much about the Unknown Dungeon. I just went there once for a short time."
"Hmmm..." Caleb thought hard to himself, trying to figure out a solution.
"I think there was water around it, from what I learned as a Gym Leader." Kotake said softly. No one payed any attention to her, although she didn't seem to see this as peculiar. "Great rivers flowing underneath the caverns..."
"I know!" Caleb said, brightening. "We can take turns riding Dewy, can't we?"
The others stared at him, then blinked as they realized the obvious answer to their problem. Atelli shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess. Who's going first? I'm last so I can return with Dewy."
"I'll go first." Caleb looked at the Dewgong hesitantly. "I'm small, so it shouldn't take that long." He said the words with restrained distaste, but he knew it was true. He heard Colt snickering behind him and he fumed.
"Dewy!" Atelli called. The Dewgong flipped from the water where she had been swimming and splashed some water, signifying that she had heard. "Dewy, can you carry Caleb across the water?"
Dewy looked up at Atelli and the others.
"Deeeewgong!" She said, in a voice that sounded like water running over bells. It was beautiful and delicate. Indigo looked surprised.
"I thought Dewgong's had hoarse, honking, screechy voices." She stared at the beautiful shimmering Dewgong. Dewy smiled broadly, as did her trainer.
"Dewy has been very well trained! Only badly trained Dewgongs have horrible voices. They also look fat. But not Dewy!" Atelli giggled. Dewy laughed with her. Ella E rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. Caleb, get on." She commanded.
"Will Dewy drop me?" Caleb hesitated next to the Dewgong. Atelli blinked.
"No, of course not. She knows what to do. Don't worry about it."
"I really can't swim, so..." Caleb slid onto the Dewgong's back. Atelli laughed.
"Hang on tight then! Dewy, GO!"
The Dewgong lept into the air, then sliced through the water, leaving behind a wake of foam and the faint sound of Caleb's cry of surprise.
"He won't really fall off, will he?" Ella E asked. Her sister smiled.
"No, Dewy won't let him. She would catch him if he did, anyway. Look, she's coming back already!"
Dewy lept into the air and splashed down in front of her trainer, smiling. Caleb was not with her.
"Where's Caleb?" Ella E asked immediately before Atelli could speak. Dewy looked at her, confused.
"Deeew gong, dew gong gong dew, dew dew gong dew." she said in her pretty voice. Atelli turned to her group and smiled.
"She says that there is an island across the water, and Caleb is there right now! She says there might have been a cave there, but she wasn't sure. Who's next?"
"I'll go." Monty stepped forward. "I better make sure Caleb isn't doing something stupid."
He got on Dewy's back and soon was out of sight. This time, however, it took a little longer.
"Kotake, you want to go next?" Atelli asked the quiet girl. She looked away.
"I guess. Okay."
Dewy returned, still beaming, not panting or out of breath in the least.
"Is Monty safe?" Ella E asked again. The Dewgong nodded, and Kotake got on. Atelli watched the sad girl go off, wondering to herself why she always seemed so withdrawn.
"Why don't you go next, Ella E?" Atelli asked her sister. Ella E looked at her with suspicion.
"I don't know. Why do you want me to go NOW?"
"I was just asking." Atelli looked almost offended.
"Are you sure you didn't tell Dewy to drop me once she reached a certain point?"
"Of course not! You're just being paranoid!" Atelli laughed, but Ella E was not set at ease.
Dewy returned and nodded before Ella E could even ask.
"I'm watching you." Ella E said as Dewy whisked her off. Her sister, while she was not looking, stuck her tongue out at her.
"Who's next?" She asked the remaining three.
"I shall teleport across." the Mewtwo said. The remaining people stared at it in surprise. Atelli held a hand to her head, groaning.
"You could do that this whole time? Why didn't you tell us!?"
"I can only teleport myself, and I am doing this at great risk to my person." The Mewtwo walked to the water's edge. "Tell my mother to watch the water closely, I may end up under it by accident." The Mewtwo's eyes flashed, and he dissapeared. Instantly, so did Eclipse. She fluttered off with incredible speed.
Colt interrupted Atelli's rant about the stupid Mewtwo. "I'll go, I guess."
"I want to go! I don't want to be left here alone!" Indigo said with sudden energy. Colt shrugged.
"Fine, go ahead. Sheesh."
The dark-purple haired girl moved forward confidently and took her place on the back of the newly-arrived Dewgong. She soon was out of sight.
"What's her problem?" Colt said with annoyance. Atelli looked at him.
"She likes you, I think. She spaced out when she saw you, anyway. I guess since she can't really do anything about it, she's mean. She can't tell you any other way."
Colt paused, thinking about this. "I don't get it."
"Never mind..." Atelli sighed. "Get on."
Colt was soon out of sight, and Atelli was left by herself. Her Dewgong lept on the shore, smiling.
"Did you do a good job, Dewy?" she asked, petting her Dewgong on the head. Dewy crooned and smiled. She got on her back, soon surfing through the water, laughing and enjoying herself.
The three pairs of eyes that had been watching the group travel turned to each other.
"This is perfect! I can get revenge for what they did to me!" the larger boy, one with shoulder-length black hair tied back, said with anger. The girl with equally long light-blonde hair glared at him.
"They didn't do it to you! How many times must I say that! We're following them so that one," she counted off on her fingers, "we can take their Pokémon and two, we can find whatever it was that attacked us and destroy it."
The larger boy crossed his arms and sulked. A smaller boy, one that seemed nervous and jumpy looked at the two. He spoke softly.
"After what you...told me, that Pokémon seems very powerful. How will we defeat it?"
"We'l figure it out! It's a Pokémon, isn't it? It's not invincible." The girl said. The smaller boy retracted his question.
"So how do we get across?" The larger boy said, looking across the water. They emerged from the bushes where they were hiding, finding no need to remain concealed.
All of them were wearing almost the same thing, except for the girl. A sleeveless top with gloves up to the elbows, along with a skirt with a slit (in the girls case) that went down to her knees or (in the boys case) loose pants. All were wearing grey boots, which matched with the dark grey outfits. Displayed proudly on the chest of each was a bright white letter "R".
"Don't you have something that can get us across, Nick?" the girl asked the smaller boy. He looked thoughtful, then smiled.
"I know! Go, Connor!" he said, throwing out a Pokéball. A Blastoise appeared from it, large and powerful. "We can ride Connor across and follow them." Nick jumped on the back of his Blastoise and gestured to his team-mates. The larger girl and boy looked at each other.
"I can't swim..."
"Neither can I..."
"Are you sure it's safe, Nick?" The girl asked, not aware a scene like this had just happened in the company of the group they were following. The smaller, brown haired boy nodded.
"Sure. Connor listens to whatever I tell him. Come on."
The larger boy slowly crawled onto Connor's back and looked around nervously.
"Remember, this was your plan, Tashi."
"No it wasn't!" Tashi said, climbing next to her brother. "You're the one who wants revenge for your arm, Reimia."
Reimia ignored her and stared at the sculpted piece of stone that had once been his fully functioning arm. He pointed ahead, jerking Nick's attention from the brief argument.
"That way, Nick. Let's go!"

~~~
Meanwhile, the group that Remia, Tashi, and their latest member, Nick, were pursuing had gathered in front of the opening to a rather large cave.
"Ha!" Monty laughed at the skeptics who had doubted taking this journey, who all gave the same response of sulky stares and mumbling. The Mewtwo, however, was pacing back and forth in front of the cave, as if deciding whether or not to enter or not. He had teleported across the water without difficulty, much to the relief of his mother, but was finding entering the cave a much more difficult ordeal.
"Is this the Unknown Cave?" Ella E asked, looking into the depths that plunged into darkness only a few steps within. Atelli shrugged.
"This looks like it, I guess."
"I think this is it." Kotake said softly. No one heard her.
"So tell me, why are we here again?" Indigo asked impatiently, leaning against a nearby rock with her arms crossed. Ella E looked at the Mewtwo, who didn't seem to notice. His voice entering their heads a moment later proved their assumptions about his attention wrong.
"I remember this place...this is where me and Drak lived for a long time. I think there's a way to the PGRI from here...that would explain how they managed to leave me here after they were done..." Anger could almost be felt in his voice.
"Caleb...?" Ella E turned to the shorter boy, who nodded.
"Charmeleon!" he cried dramatically, releasing the fire lizard. Colt rolled his eyes and made a sound of contempt. Caleb ignored him.
"Charrr..." The Charmeleon took one look at Caleb and snorted in disgust.
"Charmeleon, we need light. Could you walk in front of us to light the way?"
"Meleon." Charmeleon shook his head. Caleb sighed as the Charmeleon busied itself with cleaning it's claws.
"Why doesn't it listen to you?" Indigo looked at the Charmeleon in confusion. Caleb sighed.
"That's because it doesn't trust me. After I was...I was cruel to it for a time, it stopped trusting me. I think the only person it would actually listen to is Ashstar, because she was the one who took care of it while it was recuperating."
"We can use my Vulpix..." Colt suggested. Ella E shook her head.
"No, I don't think so...unless Vulpix can release a steady stream of fire..."
"I think that would overheat it..."
"How about Electric? Anyone have an Electric?" Indigo asked. Atelli and Ella E both nodded at Indigo and the two sisters threw out two Pokéballs at the same moment.
"Go, Autumnn!"
"Go, Nyashock!"
The two voices overlapped as Caleb recalled the errant Charmeleon. The sisters glared at each other. From their Pokéballs came a Raichu and the strange hybrid that was only known as the Nyashock. They, likewise, began glaring at one another.
"We can use Autumnn." Atelli said, putting emphasis on the extra N in the Raichu's name. "Autumnn is powerful enough to light the way for a long time."
"No way!" Ella E picked up the Nyashock, who began purring. It sounded like an electric motor. "Nyashock is MUCH better then your stupid Raichu. Nyashock could light the way super easy!"
"Autumnn!"
"Nyashock!"
"Autumnn!"
"Nyashock!"
"AUTUMNN!"
"NYASHOCK!"
"Stop it, stop it!" Monty broke between the two sisters, who had been screaming at each other. They glared at him. Monty tried to smile disarmingly.
"We can use both. It'd be a lot more useful then one, and they can both help."
Atelli and Ella E seemed to consider restarting the conflict, but in the end listened to Monty. The others in their party breathed a sigh of relief. They entered the caves, where the Nyashock and the Raichu instantly began contesting to see who could give off the most light. This continued for some time until they noticed that a orangish light, different then the bright yellow of electricity, began showing to their left. Warning their Pokémon to lower the power of their electricity, the group crept closer to the strange light. Soon the light was strong enough so that Autumnn and Nyashock were not needed, and they were able to see.
The fire (which was what everyone assumed it was) was behind a large outcropping of rock. The only thing directly visible were the shadows of the figures, thrown on the opposite wall.
From what they could tell, there were two people sitting next to the fire and another person off to one side, apparently hanging from something. Their hands were tied above their head, and they weren't struggling.
"What's going on?" Atelli whispered. Ella E put a silent finger to her lips to signal for quiet, and the two by the fire began speaking. They were distinctly female voices, both heavy and rough. They seemed to be laughing at the third figure.
"Hey, freak, tell us that story again!"
"The stupid one you kept singin' to yourself! Come on, speak up!"
The tied figure said nothing, and one of the figures by the flames stood and seemed to throw something at the restrained one. Kotake put her hands to her mouth in horror.
"We have to help her!" she whispered, concern for the person in her voice. Ella E again motioned for her to be silent, also feeling within her that the trapped person was female. She was not sure how Kotake could tell or, for that matter, how she could, but something about her told her that the captive was female, even though the only thing visible was the hazy and indistinct shadow.
"Come on! Talk!" the one still sitting urged. A voice began to speak softly, and to Ella E, Monty, Caleb, and Colt it seemed familiar. It sounded like a poem, but had hints to a rythym like that of a song. It was hypnotizing.
Ella E, as the strange chant continued, began to see things flashing in front of her eyes that were not there. The firelight playing of the walls began to form shapes, that of what looked like armies of things she could not identify, dying around her. Six shapes, facing eachother, each glowing bright scarlet red. Aerodactyls, Omastars, and Kabutops roamed the strange landscape, killing all before them with the glowing eyes. The shapes began to throw the energy at eachother, and the armies she saw began to clash. A rushing noise of battle surged into her mind, and through it all the voice kept chanting.

Power passing through the ages
Running quick through blood of vein
Shining in the intense rages
Tears, anger, darkness, pain
Beginning of the world created
Guardians with strength bestowed
Ebbing tides of crimson abated
Pulsing in an unknown code
Trembling in fear the others stand
No defense against guarding force
Given with an errant hand
Flowing from an evil source
Guardians turn on eachother
Scarlet ripping through all life
Screams from the World Mother
Millions dying, unimaginable strife
Those who wielded power died
The world remained bleak and dark
Life again sprang from the tide
No others seemed to possess the mark
How long will the power sleep unwoken?
How long will this true evil lie hidden?
Keys of love and truth are spoken
Releasing power that should not have been given
Steeped in blood the last one staggered
Destroying all that raised the challenge
Loss of all sanity, nothing mattered
Screaming to the Mother it shall avenge
Shouting that it will live again
Blood cannot be stopped forever
Through these roads, the power it sends
Bonds of evil cannot be severed
The power lives, the power flows
Power deep and dark and dire
In the weakest's fury, anger shows
Demon's blood...Saph's Fire...

The two figures continued to laugh as the strange mix between a song and poem ended. The entire group had sat tranfixed as the figure spoke, but as soon as the words stopped, they sprung back to life. Kotake was nearest to Ella E and turned towards her.
"Ella E, please...we have to help her! We can't let them do this!" Kotake begged urgently.
Ella E had a glazed look on her face and she did not seem to hear Kotake at all, her mouth open in what seemed to be surprise.
"Ella E?" Monty shook her urgently, but Ella E seemed to have dissapeared from the realm of consciousness. She showed no signs of motion, only her eyes open and staring. Atelli sighed, sure that her sister was just deciding to daydream. She stood up, drawing Indigo and Kotake's attention. Colt, Caleb, and Monty's attention seemed to be focused on getting Ella E to snap out of it.
"I'm not going to let whoever those are torment that poor girl." Atelli stood, taking her six Pokéballs and holding them in her hand. She looked at Autumnn, who nodded. "I'm going to save her!"
"Me too!" Caleb looked up, apparently shaken out of his concern by the thought of the imprisoned girl. He stood quickly, grabbed Charmeleon's Pokéball, and lept out from behind the rocks.
"Caleb, wait!" Atelli cried uselessly. Caleb threw the Pokéball to the ground and pointed at the two in front of the fire, trying to think of some kind of order to give. He didn't have much time to study them as Charmeleon, jealous of the burning fire in front of the two, began breathing fire all over the place. The two figures ran off, and he could catch a glimpse of what seemed to be green and blue hair. Satisfied that the two had been driven off, he returned Charmeleon. He turned back to the rocks.
"They're gone!" he called. Atelli's voice came in reply.
"What do you think you're doing? You could have gotten killed! They might have had weapons!"
"Don't worry about me! I'll be fine." he said, turning to see who the captive person was. He stopped dead in his tracks, dropping Charmeleon's Pokéball in surprise.
"Ashstar!"

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