Storming From Saffron Ch 4

While Indigo was recovering, she began helping Mr. Fuji with his work. He ran a volunteer Pokemon house - essentially a shelter for abandoned or injured Pokemon. Most of the villiage children helped out as well (apparantly, there wasn't much else for them to do in Lavender).

It was a welcome respite from the high-stakes conflict she'd been wrapped up in, but she couldn't let it last forever.

"I can't stay."

"That's unfortunate, but you have your own path to follow," the old man said, "Where do you plan to go?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Indy walked over to a map of Kanto hung on the wall, "Saffron should still be under lockdown. I could skip it and go straight to Celedon, but... I feel like my Pokemon aren't ready for that yet. Or I could go south over Silence Bridge..."

You would have the same problem there, I fear," Mr. Fuji interjected. "The pokemon near Fushia are quite powerful compared to the ones further north. And by necessity, so are the trainers."

"...That leaves the Rock Tunnel. You say the Pokemon there are weaker?"

"That is true, but Rock Tunnel is very dark inside. There are no cracks in the ceiling like in the Seafoam Caverns, nor has anyone set up artificial lighting like in Mount Moon. Nor have I anything to light your way with. If you go there, you go in Blind."

As usual, there was no easy path. But what she needed most was battles she could win. She thought she could handle bumping into walls during her training.

"I've decided. I'm going into Rock Tunnel"

"Very well, I wish you luck. But first, I have something for you, Miss Jones." Mr. Fuji walked to a dresser, giving one of his Nidoran a pat along the way, and retrieving a thick flute of some sort.

"The tones of this instrument can wake up pokemon that have been lulled to sleep. I doubt you will have special need of it in the tunnel, but it may prove useful eventually."

"Thank you."


---


As Indy entered the tunnel, she found that the warnings were completely true. The light from the entrance penetrated a few scant meters, barely enough to find it again if she didn't go far away from it. She experimentally let Vulpix out of her pokeball, but while the fox glowed with her inner flames, she did not shine enough to light the way. "Worth a try," Indy muttered, then pet vulpix a bit before recalling her.

On the positive side, Rock tunnel was full of wide open space, so as long as she moved slowly she didn't do a lot of bumping into walls.

Of course, wild pokemon who seemed to have ways of seeing in the dark were the real danger. Dozens of times, she felt the wingbeats of Zubat diving down at her, although they would quickly change targets when she managed to send out a Pokemon. Vulpix was the favorate for fending off Zubat. Not only could Indy readily see where she was, but Vulpiz's fire attacks wouldn't be especially useful against anything else in the cave: Lapras' water attacks were to be saved for the Rock-type inhabitants.

Speaking of which, Lapras got plenty of exercise too. At one point, Indigo was caught by surprise and lifted into the air by a Onix, only to be released again when she managed to call out Lapras, who drove the rock-snake away with a single burst of water. Geodude were dealt with in the same way. Indy considered catching one, but she already had Cubone as a Ground Type.

As she continued on, she began running into Other Trainers in the dark. But while they weren't out for blood like Team Rocket had been, they still posed a threat to Indy's team. Hikers offered advice on trailblazing even as they sent their own Geodude and Machop to wear down her defenders. Lapras could handle the Geodude just as easily as the wild ones, but she had nothing to hit the special weakness of Machop. Cubone was her best option against the fighter, he proved to have surprisingly strong defenses.

"Where did you catch that Machop anyway?" She asked her foe.

"Why, right in here! They've probably just been seeing that you're too busy with the pesky Zubat to give them a good fight-" A wild Machop gave a shout at this point. "-Until now that is!"

"Cubone, on guard." Indigo commanded, reaching for an empty Pokeball (Only two left after this one.) "I can't tell how far away it is... but if it comes within range, hit it with your Bone Club."

Time seemed to slow down as they waited in the dark. Finally, Indy heard the sound of combat and threw the ball at it. The Machop glowed as it was energized, the brightest thing  either trainer had seen for hours.

The capture was a success this time too, and Indigo continued on her way...

Until she tripped over a hole in the ground and whacked her limbs against something metal. Somehow she ended up grabbing onto it, but her arms were left quite sore.

"What the heck, I heard this place was completely undeveloped. What's a ladder doing in here then?" If someone had set up steady ladders (and indeed, they had been made to last, rooted in concrete-filled holes), why couldn't they have set up lighting while they were at it?

In any case, she had no choice but to get herself untangled and continue on, more cautiously this time. While the path was winding, any dead ends were short enough to backtrack from easily. The ladders actually were close enough to the walls to be found surprisingly easily.

Still she still had to fend off other trainers: self-styled Pokemon maniacs, and would-be Picknickers who'd chosen the wrong space to rest. They did know what they were doing however: the Pokemaniacs had Slowpoke, which was a perfect counter for any wild pokemon in the cave, and the Picknickers tended to specialize in Grass-types, which were just as useful against the Rock-types that lived here.

Indy herself had trouble against enemy Slowpoke until Lapras suddenly picked herself up and slammed herself on top of them. Even if she could actually see how it worked, she probably wouldn't understand it.

---

Indigo was sore all over from scrapes and wrenched joints. Her pokemon were doing better because they didn't need to navigate, and she'd used what medicine she had to keep them strong enough to fight. But inevitably, she reached the end of the tunnel. It was late evening by then, but there was still some light outlining the cave exit. Furthermore, once she got outside, she saw the top of a Pokemon center poking over some thick brush. It didn't take long to get around the thicket and through it's welcoming doors.

After a quick lie down on her part and checkup on the pokemon's, Indy decided to take a look around the route before the sun set. She avoided tall grass and other trainers as much as she could for now, and just followed what she emembered of the map. Supposedly, Cerulean City was to the Northwest. It was a rocky road, but she didn't let that bother her. Eventually, all the smll trails came together

...At another thick and impassible thicket, The tips of buildings could be seen over the overgrowth, but it was impossible to go through. "Oh you have got to be KIDDING ME!"