Strong as a shield

Marcus shuffled in the crowd as to not get pushed around. "With a crowd like this that thing will be doing everything it can to avoid us, we need to find a more isolated path. No, the Red Gyrados was real, they are starting to find mutations in a vary small fraction of Pokemon that changes the color of there skin making them look very different from the rest of there kind." Marcus started looking over the heads of people to try and find a small side cave or passage way that nobody else was taking.

"Well that's interesting," Satoshi said, "now I really want to see this thing."

As for an empty passage, across a pond-like body of water, there seemed to be a small opening in the rock of the outside of the ruin. It was a small entrance directly into the cave, if Marcus didn't mind getting wet or having a very tight space to get inside.

Marcus followed the boys wondering eyes to the narrow cave. "Hah, good work boy. Now lets just.." Marcus began to awkwardly shove his way across the wave of people. He turned sideways happily plopping himself into the dark moist cave, a small ant sized river lazily traveling through it. Marcus's love for caves and Archeology popped in. "Believe it or not," Marcus stopped to scratch his chin. "This little river was probably made this tunnel through erosion, quite interesting really." Marcus started walking down the cave path, the river at his feet gradually getting wider.

"That's interesting," Satoshi said, following Marcus into the river without a second thought. His Raichu, had a different view of getting wet. Even though the river was tiny, the Pokemon hastily made his way onto his trainer's head, as if it would suddenly flood and rise a good several feet. "Well, you lead the way," Satoshi said, "I'm not a big fan of dark and cramped spaces."

"Yea, I'm sure your not to interested in my Geology lessons are you?" Marcus noticed the tiny stream now covered the floor in a layer of fresh water."Heh, Sabishii you wanna walk?" Marcus held his hand near the flowing water, teasing the ground type Pokemon. Cubone quickly grabbed onto Marcus's arm trying to avoid the water. "I'm just kidding buddy, I wouldn't do that to you." Marcus looked ahead, the small tunnel seemed to expand. It looked like there was a room up ahead. A light seemed to be seeping from somewhere up ahead. "Hey." He tapped Satoshi on the arm to get his attention. "What do you think that is?" He asked keeping pace and his eyes ahead.

"It looks like a crack in the top of the cave, Light's able to get in. It must mean we're closer to the main cavern, I heard it's naturally lit while the caves leading to it aren't." Indeed, just as he said it, the pair reached the main chamber, where the illusive and different Unknown had been spotted. Unfortunately, there were a few other curious trainers searching the area too, and a whole ton of normal Unknown. None of the trainers or Pokemon seemed to want to bother Marcus though.

Marcus looked around the room, small letter like Pokemon flying around, minding their own business. The room had two or three passageways snaking out of it. "Well, I dont see anything interesting in here, no blue letters." Marcus stared at the cold floor of the cave, inspecting it with curiosity. "No sign of any fossils either, just the grooves in the wall where those unknown make words. I wonder where these ruins came from." Marcus started getting deep into thought before Sabishii gave him a tap on the arm. "Oh! So, where should we go next?" Marcus looked around the room and to each pathway respectively.

"Well, my mother always told me third time's the charm, maybe third one's the charm too," Satoshi replied, stepping toward the farthest tunnel before shuddering. The tunnel was almost immediately pith black, and it was impossible to see what was farther into its depths. The other two were brighter but more crowded. "I think you should be the one to pick," Saroshi said, stepping away from the dark tunnel. "Did I mention how much I don't like caves?"

Marcus continued the path Satoshi had started taking. "We will be fine, our Pokemon can protect us anyway. But for light..." Marcus tossed his bag to the ground pulling out a crank flashlight. He pulled the crank out of the little hiding hubby and started going at it with a toothy grin. "oh..." The crank started to rattle and suddenly snapped off. "Well, I guess this is broken, think your Raichu can zap the walls for light or something?"

"Well, I'm not sure about zapping walls, but he may be able to keep his cheeks sparking enough to at least see what's around us. Can you do that buddy?" His Raichu nodded with an odd look of determination. He curled his paws into little fists, swiped his tail back and forth, then began sparking at the cheeks, careful not to hit Satoshi with any of the electricity. A close perimeter around the two trainers was now lit in a dim yellow light, allowing them to see a little way forward at a time. "You still take the lead," Satoshi said, "you should still be able to see what's in front of you."

Marcus continued deeper into the cavern, lit only by the flickering static made by the boys Raichu. The light flickered for a second and marcus nearly tripped on a stone that had been jutted out for him. "Watch that rock" Marcus said uninterested to the boy. Through the dim lighting Marcus could see the path seemed to turn into a cross road. "Looks like a fork of some sort, man these ruins are confusing."

"Yeah they are," Satoshi replied, nearly stumbling on the same jutting rock. Suddenly, as Satoshi caught up to Marcus, his Raichu gave out a weak cry, and the sparks died out, leading the pair to be plunged into pure darkness. "Well crap," Satoshi said, "I guess we're going to have to pull out the big guns."

He seemed to fumble for something before a blinding flash of light lit the cave. It was gone in a second, but the cave was still dimly lit. The flickering red light was made by the powerful flames atop the back of a Typhlosion, who seemed to look around the cave with moderate interest. Satoshi chuckled, putting the Typhlosion's ball back into his bag. "I forgot about this guy. My brother's having me look after him while he's away. So, er, which way to go?"

Marcus watched the boy fumble aroubd before tossing out a ball. Te cVe was fille with a blinding light, heat rushed at him. Marcus uncovered his eyes to see a Weasel like Pokemon, flames exploding from its back. "Thats a fine pokemon" marcus said with respect but still keeping his distance, fire wasn't usually his thing. Marcus turned back towards the three path, each ninety degrees from the other, and each a mirror image of the one they had just come down, a two to one ratio of height to width, layered with a light brown brick, the occasional one popping out of the floor or wall. Marcus stood for a second, looking down each one respectively, pointing down them each continuously and humming a little toon. "Let go this way." Marcus pointed down te left tunnel and started walking into the darkness. "Dont get left behind! And yes, that was eeny meeny miny mo." He bellowed back towards the boy with an accomplished smile.

"Don't worry, it's how I make all of my decisions to," he dropped his voice to a whisper and gave Marcus a sly smile, "don't tell him, but that's how I picked my buddy Raichu." He laughed as Raichu perked his ears and glared at him with fierce little eyes.

Satoshi client followed Marcus with the Typhlosion closely in tow. The large Pokemon didn't seem to say or do much, just follow with an fascinated look on his face. The silence, where the occasional crack of fire could be heard, was broken by the gentle dripping of moisture in the cave echoing across its walls. It was a sign that they were entering some sort of cavern, but it was still too far to make out from the heavy darkness that surrounded them.

Marcus left out a slight chuckle, decided to keep his voice down whilst in this echoing cage. "So, where did your brother happen to go? Uh, if you dont mind me asking anyway, you know just trying to make small talk to pass the time." As they continued to walk Marcus could make out a slight change in the ground up ahead. "Looks like the ruins were never finished, they just kind of stop here and turn in a rocky cavern, looks like it opens up more farther ahead." He decided to nudge Satoshi and start joking with him. "Boy, cant wait to see what kinda creepy Pokemon might be buried down here, Ohh, This reminds me of where we found that Kabutops fossil. They are these human sized Pokemon, its shell as hard as rock with these nasty sickles on its arms. Hope we get to see one down here." They reached where the ruins turned to cave, a slight step down off of the bricks and onto the cold rock floor.

"Oh, my brother's in Hoenn for something. He's a member of the International Police, and he said something about a Team Magma," Satoshi shrugged. As they continued on, Satoshi could feel the air become less cramped and the pathway widen, and he released a sigh of relief, glad his claustrophobia was easing up. At the mention of creepy Pokemon and Kabutops, he listened, fascinated.

"Wow, that Pokemon sounds scary. I kinda hope we don't find one here." He chuckled, then froze, his eyes going wide. "M-Marcus," he said, a studder forming from his shock, "I didn't think we'd see it, b-but there it is," He pointed his finger up ahead, his arm quivering slightly. "It is true."

Sure enough, amongst many other ordinary Unknown of varying shapes and sizes, one hovering with the rest glistened and sparkled in the light, its blue color only amplifying the effect. It seems the Unknown had retreated this far into the ruins after the hoard of people that came to see it, leaving Marcus and Satoshi the only ones observing it now.

Unknown F [Shiny], No Gender, Level 15

Marcus marveled up at the blue tinted unknown, his mouth hung open like a turkey in a rain storm. The Pokemon, in the obvious shape of and F floated tantalizingly close to Marcus, almost hypnotized by its color he looked at Sabisii still standing on his hand. "Heh, looks kinda like a person don't it?" Marcus let out a chuckle. "Man, I have to look at that thing some more, Sabisii, I hope your ready." The Pokemon nodded to Marcus who happily tossed the Cubone into the air towards the Unknown "Bone Club!" Marcus's hardy voice echoed back and forth off the cave wall. Cubone quickly raised his Bone above his head, unable to decide his own path in midair Sabishii trusted Marcus, instinctively bringing the bone down.

The Unknown seemed oblivious to the attack, and fell very easy prey. The swinging bone made contact with the strange, almost metallic body of the Unknown, and the Pokemon was sent hurtling to the ground, slamming into it and releasing a cloud of dust and dirt from the impact. It slowly hovered back up and launched a strange energy at Sabishii, a Hidden Power.

Satoshi accidentally inhaled some of the dust, and broke into a fit of coughing. He had been watching the battle excitedly, knowing Marcus well deserved the strange Pokemon. He was content just to have seen it and watch it in battle. So far, it didn't seem any different than any other Pokemon.

"Sabishii, block it!" Marcus shouted the command over the commotion of scattering Pokemon. Marcus looked over at Satoshi with an unconcerned look. "You okay?" Marcus let out a boasting laugh, giving Satoshi a hardy smack on the back. He looked back to Sabishii who did just as he was told. Sabishii tightly gripped his bone in front of his face, The blast hit the bone sending Sabishii blasted onto his back. "Comon, you've been hit by worse then that!" Marcus shouted out in encouragement. The Cubone jumped onto his feet. "Chip away!" Marcus ordered. Sabishii ran towards the Unknown spinning in a 360 degree angle, his bone outstretched to hit the target.

The Unknown tried to zoom away from the attack, but the Chip Away narrowly managed to hit its target. It was sent spinning out of control and into the nearest cave wall. Shuddering, it was apparent it was getting weak. Summoning up another strange bit of energy, it launched another Hidden Power at Sabishii.

"Lets see how strong those things are Sabishii, try slicing through that energy ball... Thingy!" Sabishii positioned his feet onto the stone, preparing for the blow. The Cubone prepped the bone in both hands, readying his swing. The energy orb approached, Sabishii swung the his bone, in a baseball bat like fashion, slicing it in half. The energy from it exploded outward, knocking Cubone onto his butt again with a blast of air. "Hah, that was a good test!" Marcus now held a Pokeball in his hand, tossing it up and down whilst watching his Cubone stand. "Lets try this out!" The big man chucked the Pokeball at the small blue Pokemon.

The Pokeball made contact with the rather odd Pokemon, and with a flash of red, the Unknown was sucked in. The ball wiggled once, twice, a third time, then halted, signalling a catch.

Unknown was caught! Would you like to give it a nickname?

Marcus ran over to the now still Pokeball, Sabishii close on his heels. Marcus scooped up the Pokeball, holding it in both hand. In a flash of red lightning the Unknown, in all its blue glory appeared in front of him. "Ah, your even more of a beauty up close! Ah! I got it." Marcus looked back at Satoshi "I've got the perfect name for this little guy! Fredrickson! Get it? It starts with an F and its a human name, he looks like an F and the sketch of a person, its perfect!" Marcus looked Back at Fredrickson with a gleeful smile on his face. "Common on back, Ill get to know you later, after you rest." Marcus raised the ball, returning the small blue Pokemon in another flash of red light. He looked around the cave, one, maybe two caverns outstreched from the center of this cavern, which is where they stood. "So, which way?" Marcus asked the boy, his eyes were glazed on the unknown, he probably looked like he was thinking but he was really trying to go through the alphabet with their letters.

The Unknown drifted idly past, not giving any heed to the two trainers and Pokemon. Satoshi's Raichu finally seemed to have woken from his weak daze, and he happily jumped from his trainer's shoulder onto the dirt floor, chasing after a particularly speedy Unknown X. Satoshi laughed as his Raichu jumped up and grabbed the Unknown before it zipped up into the air, causing the Raichu to frantically wave his feet back and forth trying to get back to the floor. Finally, he let go, and fell back to the ground. Glowing red with embarrassment, and glancing at Sabishii and Typhlosion to make sure they weren't laughing, he jumped back on Satoshi's shoulder with a huff. His trainer was trying to hide his laughter, but was doing a dreadful job.

"I think the best way would be to go back the way we came," He said in between small heaves of silent laughter, "that way, it'll be harder for us to get lost."

"Yea, I think that's about all there is to these ruins, wanna just head for the exit or check around a bit more?" Marcus had started petting Sabishii below the skull, he began walking towards the exit with a leisurely pace. Marcus was in less then a hurry to leave, he loved caves more so then anywhere else in the outdoors, they were cool and in more then one way for him. On top of that they held Pokemon he was fascinated by, moving rocks, Pokemon so sturdy they could take on a speeding car! Something about the damp smell and dark caves usually reminded him of when he was a kid or working with his colleges before he had broken his leg.