Mt Moon, and a Step Forward!

Hours had passed since Miku had departed from Cerulean City and defeated the mystery trainer along the way. The sun was high in the sky now, tilting just past its highest point. The sky would grow dark soon, but that mattered little to Miku. Her blue eyes stared up at the sprawling mountain pass before her. 

"Mt Moon," she stated in awe of it. Her family had usually just taken routes south of Cerulean to get to Celadon and Saffron City, never having a need to venture west. It truly was a new adventure waiting for her. "I heard the quickest way to the other side is by taking the cave," the young teen said, turning her head to look down at her partner.

"Slowpoke," the pink hippo replied, slowly. Miku smiled slightly, brushing some black fringe of her bangs from her eyes. She made sure her long hair was tied up securely, not wanting it to fall out in the darkness of the cavern. Nodding, Miku began to stride into the unknown with Slowpoke at her side.

It wasn't long after proceeding into the cave that footsteps could be heard behind them. A boy had come running in - and it was the same one from the PC the night before. "Excuse me," He called, reaching out to tap her on the shoulder, "Hi, sorry. I was in the Pokemon Centre, and Nurse Joy told me to come and give you this. It's a Feebas, some trainer had it repossessed from a dodgy trainer that was doing bad stuff to it. She said you loved water Pokemon and wondered if you wanted it, I was sent to come catch you." He dug a hand into his backpack, swinging it back over the shoulder of his hoodie, offering the creature out to her. Sure enough within the transparent shell of the orb was a Feebas. It was not particularly stunning, and it seemed quite nervous, too...

Miku heard the pounding of footsteps, fast approaching from behind her. She swung around, hand at the ready on the handle of her katana. A sliver of light reflected from the blade where it had been partially unsheathed. Upon recognizing the boy, and deeming him to be no threat, Miku clicked the sword back into place and removed her hand.

She quietly heard him out, all questions of why he was stalking her slowly falling away. It was a relief in a way, though she would have rather not had the scare in the first place. Still, she reached her hand out and examined the pokeball containing Feebas. It really wasn't spectacular looking, but it appeared neither were her other two Pokémon. She trusted that her ability with water Pokémon would allow her to raise it sufficiently, anyway.

"I'll take care of it," Miku said, shrinking the ball back down to size and clipping it to her waist next to Psyduck. "Give Nurse Joy my thanks," she said with her always respectful(ly awkward) bow. "Umm...I'll be...going now," she said brokenly, as if unable to even allocate the right words for a simple goodbye. She quickly turned away stiffly and walked on into the dark cave, now with a new Pokémon in her roster.

The boy looked at her quizzically as she brought out her sword. Was it even legal to carry that kind of thing around willy nilly? She was obviously younger than him (in actuality, same age), and in his eyes, it made her a bit of a basket case. "Yeah, alright..." He had considered joining her towards Pewter City, his hometown and cutting through Diglett's Cave to Vermilion, but perhaps not. She was obviously a bit awkward and not wanting of company. "See you, then."

He turned back the way he came. The cave was quiet, aside from the usual, eerie noises of such an enviornment: the echoes of Pokemon cries, dripping of water from the ceiling and flutter of Zubat wings. Occasionally, a crash or breakage of rocks would join these effects. The air was dusty, but it was at least light enough that one wouldn't hit any obstacles as a result.

And that was a terribly good thing, because up ahead, a male Sandshrew at level eleven appeared to be digging into the ground, trying to bury some kind of treasure it had come across.

As the boy left, and Miku ventured deeper into the cave she slowed her pace. "He might've wanted to travel with us," she said to Slowpoke, almost sounding as if she'd missed out on something. "Good thing we got out of there when we did!" She then stated in a nearly triumphant manner. Apparently, she was happy she'd run away before he could invite himself along.

"We don't need anyone, right, Slowpoke?" Miku added, several minutes later only to break the silent tension. Not that it was absolute silence, just the awkward kind where you can hear everything and it's unsettling. "Once upon a time I thought I needed someone, but I was wrong about that too. So now we rely on ourselves..." Miku halted in her wake.

The sound of the shifting earth, as well as the small creature before her was unmistakeable. A Pokémon. Pulling out her PokeDex, Miku caught up on the small critter. Sandshrew, the Mouse Pokémon. To protect itself from attackers, it curls up into a ball. It lives in arid regions with minimal rainfall.

"Quite the opposite of us, eh Slowpoke?" Miku asked her partner, acting as though she'd said something clever. Slowpoke responded in his usual way, smiling up at his partner even if he was thinking she should maybe have socialized with the boy. "How about we test it out, you and I? Let's give it a go, use Scald!" Miku decided to go for a surprise attack on the wild Pokémon without giving second thought. 

"Slowpoke," her partner replied, opening his jaw wide. Bubbling water began to roll and steam at the back of his throat, building pressure quickly. In an instant, it shot from the pink Pokémon's mouth in a roar, untold amounts of scalding water spewing at the Sandshrew. Who knew, if a Pokémon weak to water like Sandshrew could take a hit like that and not faint he might be worth adding to the team.

The noise of the two alerted Sandshrew to their presence, their voices loud in the cave of awkward acoustics. However, the attack was unexpected, and before he could flee, the jet coated him. His screech, scurrying all over the place and rolling around in the sand, trying to cool off and dry himself. The sand spewed everywhere, lowering Slowpoke's accuracy, and on top of that, the Sandshrew let off a swift attack, adding injury to insult.

There was no way for Slowpoke to dodge the homing attack, being pelted by the superficial stars as he rubbed some of the dirt from his eyes. "Slowpoke!" Miku exclaimed, she hadn't been expecting such a swift counterattack. "That's one tough Sandshrew, I thought that attack would put him under for sure," Miku continued, smirking a bit. She saw potential, she always liked potential. 

"Alright Slowpoke, looks like we have to put him down ourselves. Use Yawn!" Miku ordered, quickly giving her Pokémon a command. She didn't want to waste any time. At best she would have a new type to help balance her team. At worst, Sandshrew was great for training.

"Slowwwwpoke," opening his mouth wide, Slowpoke let out a long yawn. He made sure to do it where Sandshrew could see him clearly, putting extra effort into making it audible and seemingly extra drowsy. 

The Sandshrew was almost down, there was no denying that fact. It was very weak, and terrified, and that was what had thrust it into a panic and such a speedy response. It used Defence Curl, paws over invisible ears to try and avoid the move - and then it did something else. It suddenly used Rollout!

Slowpoke was in no position to try dodging the speedy sand mouse, and it tumbled right into him. Fortunately, Rollout is initially a weaker move, and Slowpoke has a low center of gravity. "Slowpoke, don't let that happen again!" Miku grit her teeth, knowing he couldn't possibly dodge their foe reasonably.

Slowpoke seemed to finally feel the Swift attack, wincing in turn. "Slowpoke!" Miku hated seeing her prized partner in pain. Desperate for a quick solution, she reached for an empty pokeball. "Pokeball, go!" She hurled the red and white orb at the sand mouse, hoping it would capture it before he could make his second round with rollout.

The ball thankfully hit, but this was becoming a pattern, because it was a very close shave with Sandshrew wheeling around the way he was. Dust had flown up everywhere, once again lowering poor Slowpoke's accuracy and perhaps even the girl's as well. Concealed by the cloud, even the red glow of the Poke Ball's button was hidden, but once it cleared or was scoured out, it was evident that the capture had been a success. Miku was the owner of a level eleven, male Sandshrew. The prize he was attempting to bury was free for the taking, too: by a small cluster of rocks waited a nugget!

The dirt flying around caught Miku in the eye, though she tried to shield them. She cried a bit at the stinging, rubbing the eye that caught the brunt as the dust cloud cleared. She didn't even have time to be nervous with this one, though she decidedly agreed to work on her aim at a later time. This was just getting ridiculous! 

Still, the capture was successful, and Slowpoke was safe for the time being. "Great job, Slowpoke!" Miku praised, petting her partner. The two were filthy now, covered in the musty dirt from the cave, and she frowned knowing they needed a hot bath and some clean clothes. "That'll have to wait," Miku said, approaching the pokeball. 

She lifted it, looking into the translucent ball to see the curled up Sandshrew, exhausted and resting. "You were a fiery little guy, that's for sure." The glimmer from the hole he had been digging caught her eye. She hooked Sandshrew's ball to her belt as she walked over and examined the spot, more than happy to find the golden nugget. 

She knew they were extremely rare, and worth a good deal of money. Her mind wandered to an all-you-can-eat buffet, among other things she wanted to buy. She could get the money for an SS Anne ticket, travel to exotic places, but that would all have to wait. After all, she was still in this stuffy cave for the time being. She moved forward, wondering if she could make it to the other side by day break tomorrow.

The duo continued on through the cave, which was mostly quiet and free of conflict, until they reached a certain area. There was the sound of crashing and bashing as they advanced into the next section. Hordes of Zubat went soaring overhead and around them, and Pokemon were crying as they scattered in all directions. Amongst them were rarities like Makuhita, but that wasn't the only thing. They were nowhere to be found in the escape groups, but clearly, the crying of Clefairy could be heard.

If the two pressed on, they would find an indigo mecha piloted by two individuals, trying to cram as many inside with its metal claws as possible.

Everything seemed to be going pretty smoothly so far, wild Pokémon kept their distance as was a usual case. Only bold or frightened Pokémon generally attacked, anyway. The ground occasionally rumbled when an Onix would tunnel through nearby, but it wasn't too worrisome. That is, until the clamor was heard.

The tunnel shook, rocks came tumbling down. Slowpoke tackled Miku off into a crevice as Pokémon stampeded to escape the strange mechanism. She shielded her face from the Zubat and small falling debris, but quickly got back to her feet again.

"Now THAT is not normal!" She proclaimed, scooping up Slowpoke and rushing deeper into the cave where the cries could be heard. She was mortified when she saw the Mecha, scooping up the poor Clefairy like a prize out of a claw machine. Furious, she set down her Slowpoke, "Slowpoke, use scald on that machine!"

"Slowpoke!" His belly burned, opening wide as he spewed scalding water at the drivers of the tool. Miku was impulsive, there was no time for talk when the Pokémon were in danger!

Slowpoke launched a scald attack at the glass and metal box which contained the two drivers, concealed from the outside as if it were a two way mirror. The attack didn't do much, but it did get their attention, temporarily distracting them from their mission. "Hmm?" A female voice called first, "And who are you?"
"Looks like we have some company. Get lost, little maiden. What're you going to do, pray and slap a spell tag on us?" This voice was gruff, though not necessarily old, and the duo laughed together. The claws still grasped at the Clefairy, one of the controllers obviously still handling it even if it was facing away from most of them. "Don't make us take the Slowpoke, too. I hear their tails are gourmet and renewable! Like a tiny, dopey goldmine..."

Miku wasn't sure what she could do against such a massive machine, but she knew she needed to do something. Slowpoke might not be able to handle it on his own, and she sure as hell wasn't going to let them take him from her. "You bastards!" She screamed in a fit of rage, snatching a ball from her waist.

"Come on out, Psyduck! Help us out here!" She wasn't sure Feebas would be useful here, since there wasn't a body of water close by. Then there was Sandshrew. He was tired, and likely sour toward Miku right now, but Miku wouldn't hesitate to use him as a last resort. Surely he would help fellow Pokémon in need? 

Regardless, Miku tossed the ball which popped open with a mechanical whir. The red light formed before her, the yellow duck clenching her head with a bad headache. "Psaaaiiii...." She complained before fully taking in her surroundings. "Duck? Psyduck!" She realized just what was happening and began jumping, flailing her flippers and crying out.

"Alright..." Miku said, trying to think of a plan quickly. She had to stay on her toes, this machine could be dangerous for her and her Pokémon. "Slowpoke, use curse. Psyduck, use Disable. Try it out on that machine!" Mike wasn't sure of what she was doing, but she had to work with what she had.
"Slow," Slowpoke nodded, glowing as he lowered his speed in exchange for more attack and defense. While he did so, Psyduck also gave off a purple hue as she tried her best to disable the mecha arm.

The two thugs laughed within their machine. "A Psyduck?!" The woman laughed shrilly, sounding like the typical villain from any exaggerated story, "That's just embarrassing. The little girl obviously has no taste!"
"Are you sure that Slowpoke even has any speed to lower?" The man chimed in to more laughter. It was then that the mecha stopped, confusion sounding over the mics. Disable was working, albeit not in the traditional sense. The psychic waves were interrupting the machine's signals, the claws constantly opening and shutting, but not necessarily moving as directed. The Clefairy were more able to escape now, but there were still some stuck inside the machine.

"How dare you! Little bitch." The woman sneered. She tried to move the mecha to face the trio, but it kept jerking, the machanics of it awkward. "We'll squash you! Nobody'll even find the body!"

Miku grit her teeth as the mystery duo underestimated and insulted her Pokémon. They were gonna pay for that, one way or another. However, once the mecha began acting funky Miku knew Disable was working, though not fully. She was just happy it was working at all, to be perfectly honest. She saw some of the Clefairy were able to hop free from the claws, and hoped her next move would help jiggle more loose.

"Good job, Psyduck!" She wondered if more of a headache would make her Disable stronger, but now wasn't the time to try it out. "Keep that Disable going as long as you can! Slowpoke," Miku turned her attention to the beefed up hippo. "Go used a powered up Zen Headbutt on that machine, try to jiggle some more Clefairy loose!" 

It was a good thing Slowpoke was mostly oblivious with pain receptors, as this was likely going to hurt. He rushed forward, if that's what you want to call it. His body began to glow with psychic power, using his beefed up haunches to launch himself at the legs of the mecha in hopes of making it unstable. Maybe it would have been better, just this once, if Miku hadn't run away from that boy.

It would've been better if Miku hadn't fled from the boy, but there was nothing that could be done now. Psyduck was on standby, given that the Disable couldn't be renewed until the first attempt at it was over with. Slowpoke, however, was at risk getting close, but his attack did the trick. It made the mecha shake, though nothing was freed. The Clefairy were inside. It was going to need to be knocked over or broken open if Miku wanted to free the rest.

The mecha shook, a good sign. It was at least a motivator, feeling like they might really be able to do this. "Slowpoke, curse one more time! Psyduck, you need to use your WaterGun on Slowpoke to give him some speed this time!" Miku was desperate, trying tactics far out from normal battling.

Slowpoke glowed again, lowering his speed even further to beef up even more. Psyduck began to gargle, building up the water pressure in her belly. "Zen headbutt, go!" Slowpoke launched forward, Psyduck shooting her watergun at Slowpoke's rear to give him a boost into the Mecha! Miku grit her teeth and clenched her fists, hoping for more out of this attack.

It was an unusual tactic, but the force was exactly what they needed. Slowpoke went flying into the mecha, knocking it on its side. There was a horrible screech from the mics inside, and the sides scraped painfully against rock and sand. The whole cave shook, dust clouding down from the ceiling. Cries of Clefairy sounded from inside, the two villains evacuating their machine.

The girl had purple hair. wavy and to the length of her shoulders, whereas the male had his spiked upwards, the shade green. Both of them had their eyes concealed behind visors, dressed from shoulders to foot in leather. "We'll crush you." The woman promised, red lips pulling back into a sneer. She withdrew a Poke Ball from her pocket, containing a Magnemite, while her partner released a Trubbish. Both were at level eleven. "And that's a promise!"

Psyduck and Slowpoke gained nine experience each from taking down the mecha, but it was time for their first double battle, and one enemy at least had a type advantage...

Miku was excited to see the contraption fall, the drivers forced to leave their machine at last. The girl's face grew serious again, examining the two as they were, leather laden thugs. She thought she had them cornered, but their Pokémon made her worry. That Magnemite could pose a serious problem.

"Quick, both of you shoot your water gun attack at that Magnemite!" Miku called, trying to take it down as quickly as possible. They could at least do a normal amount of damage to it, even if they wouldn't be able to take too many attacks themselves. The two water types opened their mouths, spraying a stream of water at the metallic Pokémon.

The Magnemite took the water gun easily, and it did indeed do normal type of damage. However, water had now been dropped all over the field, and that gave it a distinct advantage. "Forget about my Trubbish if you want, but you'll regret it. Poison Gas and Toxic Spikes!" The man called. The Trubbish belched, a cloud of smog spraying in the faces of Miku and her Pokemon, but thankfully, neither of them were poisoned or hurt by it. Once the fog cleared, it was obvious that spikes had been thrown down by her Pokemon's feet. They would have to be careful where they tread, and switching her team would now be a liability.

"Thundershock!" The order Miku likely dreaded most was made. The dual type began to spark, its magnets spinning, and then electricity was fired at her duo.

Psyduck, worried about the oncoming attack quickly hopped over in front of Slowpoke, narrowly avoiding the spikes as she waddled awkwardly. That didn't stop her from feeling the full effect of the electric attack, though, her feathers standing on end as she stood dazed for a moment before coming back into the moment. It had clearly done a lot of damage, they couldn't afford many hits like that.

"Be careful out there, guys!" Miku called, very worried for her Pokemon now. Psyduck wouldn't be able to take many hits like that, and she knew it. Maybe she should switch to Sandshrew? No, she needed reliability right now. "Psyduck use Disable on that Magnemite, Slowpoke hit it with Water Gun again!" She hoped Magnemite wouldn't have any other electric attacks. It would save her for a moment, hopefully.

Psyduck began to glow purple, trying to disable the foe's Thundershock with her psychic abilities. Meanwhile, Slowpoke began to build up his WaterGun attack, aiming the stream at Magnemite as it was released. Psyduck used Disable, Slowpoke used WaterGun!

It was a smart strategy, and Miku did indeed save her Pokemon for at least a short while. The purple aura surrounded Magnemite before fading away, confirming that thundershock had been disabled for the moment. "All you're doing is stalling, you'll eventually have to succumb to us." The woman mused, undaunted by this development. Magmemite proceeded to let off a sonicboom in retaliation to the water gun which had once again wet its steel body. However, ignoring the Trubbish wasn't going to work for long.

Another poison gas cloud failed, but just because it did on the Pokemon, didn't mean that it wouldn't cause any harm to the trainer stood behind them - Miku hardly had her mouth covered or even closed. The bin Pokemon loudly began to crash forward, aiming a pound attack at Slowpoke.

Miku coughed, squinting her eyes a bit as the field again filled with toxic gases. She hadn't been thinking of repercussions to herself so far, but it would soon become a real problem. Psyduck was hit by the Sonic Boom, covering her hidden ears as the sound gave her more of a headache and knocked her on her rear. On the other hand, Slowpoke felt the trashy Pokemon's....um, fist? come down on him, responding with an oblivious "Poke," as the hit landed.

Sputtering coughs every few words, Miku ordered the attack again. She hoped by taking down one Pokemon completely she would be able to take out the other easier. After all, then they would be taking fewer hits at a time, right? Either way, Miku pointed forward, "Hurry...attack Magnemite again..." It sounded as if she was weakening herself.

Her partners opened their mouths, spurting streams of water at the same time at the foe Magnemite. Psyduck's face almost looked serious for a change, as well as Slowpoke's. It seemed as if they finally understood the entirety of their situation, and were growing worried about Miku.