Caley regained consciousness to find Rose’s dirt-smudged countenance peering over him. The woman leant back hurriedly as the trainer flung himself upright, examining the unfamiliar surroundings with a stunned expression on his face. 

“How on earth…?” Denise began as she brushed the dry dust from her flared trousers and Adam rubbed the back of his head.

"Weren't we just inside there, about to get crushed into pulp a few moments ago?" he remarked, pointing at a large pile of rubble where the tunnel mouth had been.

"Yep!" a new voice was heard.

 

"Then we saved ya!"

 

The travellers glanced round to see a two figures standing proudly before them. One was an eight year old boy with ruffled brown hair, dirty clothing and dark green galoshes. Standing next to him was a sturdy-looking Rhydon wearing a noticeably satisfied expression.

"It sure weren't easy," the boy boasted, shouldering his spade like it was some military weapon. "And your car kinda got squished in the process, but at least you're still alive, right?"

"Wow... thanks!" Caley grinned, scrambling to his feet while Denise looked on with disappointment at the loss of the hovercraft. "We owe you one." 

“Where are we, exactly?” James blinked, standing up and turning round.

“This is Pachna Town, my home!” came the cheerful reply.

“A town?" Adam exclaimed.

 

"More like a bombsite...looks like a Gyarados hit it!”

 

Pachna Town was usually a beautiful sloping settlement with quaint little cottages, each with their own surrounding gardens filled with cheery flowers and grass-type Pokémon. Now it had fallen into disarray. Huge holes dominated most of the roads and gardens; they had consumed the flowerbeds, the lampposts, even the buildings themselves. Many of the cottages had fallen to one side, their walls and contents scattered like rubble upon the ground. A once bustling place now drawn to desolation by so much ruin.

The boy looked awkward over Adam's statement, then yelped in alarm as there rose a faraway rumble culminated with a dull moan, like a conglomeration of many voices. At first they thought the unsettling noise to be the result of another earthquake, but their thoughts on the matter soon changed as the grubby young figure that once stood heroically beside them now whimpered in fear, retracted the Rhydon into a Pokéball and hid behind those he'd just saved previously.

“Hide me!” he squeaked. “They’re coming…”

“Who’s coming?” Denise asked tentatively as the rumbling continued to gather volume. It seemed to be coming from the other end of a long main road that she and the others were standing at the side of. They weren’t sure whether to move or to stand still. After all, how much safer was it to be running than to be awaiting the inevitable? Nevertheless, her question was soon answered.

The rumbling had now become a thundering and a chorus of angry voices. From round the corner, there appeared a throng of at least a hundred people in a persistent march. Just the sight of these determined, furious faces caused the gang to back into the shadows between two houses that were still standing upright.

“That Doug and his blasted tunnels!” yelled a stocky bald-headed man as he passed. “My bungalow is in ruins!”

“His mother is going to hear of this!” a woman in a white wide-brimmed hat agreed.

“To Mrs. Muddem’s house!” the man at the head of the mob announced. And with that the crowd was gone; Caley stepped out cautiously and gazed up and down the street. Then he looked back at the boy, who was no longer shuddering in fear but fumbling awkwardly with the bottom of his olive green jumper.

“Have they gone?” he murmured.

“Uh…yeah…”

“So it was you who made those big holes and made the tunnel collapse!” James exclaimed, anger beginning to rise in his voice.

“You nearly killed us!” Adam joined in. Doug flattened himself against the wall as the pair advanced.

“No! No, it wasn’t me, honest!”

He raised the larger end of his shovel to protect his face, at which point James snatched it from his grasp and waved it in one hand expectantly.

“How do you explain this then, huh?”

“Well…ah…uh…” Doug gibbered. Rose pushed herself in front of the boy and gave both her companions glares of disapproval.

“Stop this! Honestly, the two of you are jumping to conclusions. Do you seriously believe that this one kid could do all this damage?” She pointed at the many cavernous holes that scattered the street. James and Adam opened their mouths to protest but soon thought better of it and backed down, Adam resorting to thumping James as a way of channelling his annoyance.

“Are you saying that I couldn’t construct such a marvellous tunnel?” Doug remarked, offended. Rose turned to face him.

“So this work is your doing then?”

“No! Well, not all these holes…” Doug scratched his mop of dirty brown hair, causing some dry earth to fall out in the process. “The people of Pachna Town insist it’s my projects that have made the ground too weak to support the buildings. But I know for certain that all of my plans were designed to work around the houses so that wouldn’t happen.”

“You dug that huge tunnel then?” Denise gaped in awe.

“I certainly did!” Doug replied proudly. “Not without my fair share of help from my Pokémon of course. We’re always working on new projects; pools, wells, gardens, you name it. But just recently, things have been going wrong. People’s houses and gardens started disappearing underground and the town has become a real mess!”

“So if you didn’t do it, then who did?” James asked absently, while pinning down a wildly struggling Adam to the floor with both hands. Denise groaned, but Doug continued to talk like nothing was happening.

“It’s hard to say, the holes seem too big to make Diglett or Dugtrio responsible and there have been far too many of them made in two days to have been the work of an Onix or Steelix...”

Two days? Rose’s eyes shot open. Two days ago, she and the others had deserted the Team Rocket Headquarters in Coyna, and with them the Genetic Pokémon had broken away also. Was it possible that such widespread damage had been caused by one of these-freely roaming experimental specimens? She wasn’t going to rule it out, that was for sure.

“Whatever it is I’m going to stop it,” Doug announced, bringing himself up to his full height, which wasn’t very commandeering considering he was only 4ft tall. “It’s ruining my reputation as a constructionist.”

“For a small kid he sure knows some big words,” Adam murmured. A crafty smirk had appeared upon James’ face.

“Yeah, he’s a lot smarter than you.”

Doug faced Caley as the two guys in the background began another raucous scuffle.

“Will you help me find the source of this trouble?” Caley nodded slowly. If the damage had been caused by a genetic Pokemon, then it was only right he helped stop it. After all, he had been partially responsible for the creature's release in the first place. Additionally, the trainer got the feeling his loss of emotional control and the terrible pains in his head had something to do with his last encounter with Cew.

But what could it have done?

“Caley?” Denise’s concerned murmur brought him back to reality. “Are you ok? You seemed miles away just then.”

“ Oh, I’m fine…” Caley mumbled. He figured he’d better find out the reason for the adverse alterations in his state of health before he even tried to explain what was happening to the others.

 

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

            “Ya what?”

            “You ‘erd me bud. No one’s going nowheres through this 'ere tunnel.”

 

Errol (with Copi perched precariously upon his head in that similar manner that he himself once used upon James) had finally reached the outskirts of Pachna Town. It had taken him several hours without a moment’s rest, but it seemed that all his effort had been in vain. The previous earth tremors had made light work of the Pachna Tunnel, the only route in and out of the town. Several burly, wide-shouldered, unenthusiastic-looking men had set to work on the mountain of rubble with pickaxes and shovels but it was achingly slow work. Errol knew there was no time to wait.

“I can’t jus’ stand about!” he exclaimed to one of the men while Li watched anxiously. “I gots ta get inta dat town; my friends are in dere waitin’ for me.”

“Well don’t just stand there then, get to work!” came the grumpy reply.

“Woik? Me? Ha!” Errol almost choked in amusement. His chuckling was brought to an abrupt halt as a hardhat and a pickaxe were tossed into his open hands.

“And act lively about it!” the man grunted, as he left. “We ain’t got all day.”

Copi began to snigger at the sight of Errol’s expression of disbelief. He shook the Pokémon from his head in annoyance before putting on the hat. There was no use complaining, after all, he had pretty much set himself up for it.

“Feh. Me and my big mouth…” he muttered under his breath, and ventured unenthusiastically towards the worksite with Copi and Li close behind.

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

Mrs. Hyacinth Muddem stood in the doorway of her smart, modern bungalow and gazed in angst and sympathy at the sea of angry, upset faces around her.

“Oh dear. Oh dear, dear me.”

“Your son has gone too far this time, Hyacinth!” came a loud complaint.

“His reckless mischief has cost me my swimming pool!” another wailed. “It’s gone! Vanished into nothingness!”

“Pff, that's nothing,” an annoyed voice snapped. “Half my house has crumbled underground!”

“You should think yourself lucky!” someone else chimed in. “My whole house has disappeared!”

And all Hyacinth could do was stand there and scratch her head as the crowd squabbled between themselves.

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

“To find out what’s making those holes…” Doug explained as he led the group behind him down some lesser-damaged streets. “We’ve got to go down them and take a closer look!”

“This is sounding less appealing by the second” Denise muttered.

“But first we’ve got to make a little stop, at my…”

Doug trailed off and grasped his head in horror, as the crowd panned into view.

 

“Oh NO! How am I going to get my equipment now?”

 

            “I apologise for my son’s uncharacteristic behaviour,” Hyacinth called to the crowd. “I’m afraid the only compensation I can give you all is free use of the Pachna Gym as temporary accommodation…”

            “Nooooooooo!”

            Every head turned at this singular and definite objection. Up from the ridge ran Doug, waving his shovel in both hands. It was like he had completely forgotten his worries about being seen. The crowd parted, and as it did so Doug dashed headlong towards the front door.

            “Mum! You can’t!”

            “I certainly can, Douglas Muddem!” Hyacinth snapped, leaning forward and grasping her son by one arm. “You have no say in the matter, all these unfortunate people need a place to stay because of your reckless actions!”

            “But, muuum...”

            “’But’ nothing! You’re grounded until things are back to normal. And don’t try to make me change my mind!”

            “But…”

           “What did I just say?” The furious glare never left Hyacinth’s face.

            “Aww…”

 

            “Now get indoors mister; go and have a bath. You’re filthy!”

 

            As Doug slunk inside miserably the crowd began to disperse, satisfied at the offer they had been handed. The travellers exchanged looks of surprise.

            “Did she mention the Pachna Gym?” James asked curiously.

            “Yeah…and if she has control of that building then that must mean…Doug’s mom is the Pachna Gym Leader!” Denise concluded, patting Caley on the back. Rose wasn’t so certain.

            “It wouldn’t explain why Doug was so anxious to stop her from lending the Gym to the townspeople as temporary accommodation though.”

            There was an uneasy silence. Then Adam piped up.

            “Surely that little kid ain’t the gym leader? He’s too young!”

            “Hey, anything’s possible” James remarked. And in lower tones he added, “After all, I got stuck with you.”

            “What was that?” Adam raised an eyebrow, causing James to glance away and whistle to himself.

            “Well Doug's not going to be able to do any hole exploration stuck in his room, is he?” Caley mentioned. “And without his equipment or expertise we can’t do any either.”

            “Hey, I’ve had a thought,” Rose said. “Before this mess happened, Caley was going to try and get a badge from here. We can still knock on the door of that house and ask if we can stay until the gym is free for Caley to battle in and the tunnel is reopened for us to leave. While we’re in Doug’s house we can sneak him out and help him to investigate those tunnels”

            “Why are we going to all this trouble to help that kid?” Adam grumbled.

            “Somebody’s got to prove his innocence!” Denise told him morally. “Besides, if we don’t we’ll be stuck in this town where we’ll be sitting ducks for any Rocket Agents to discover!”

            "Exactly, so we may as well help speed up the process," Caley nodded.

"To Doug’s house!”

 

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

 

The excavation continued. By the murky light the singular lamp provided the men worked, delving away at the rocky wall with their shovels and pickaxes. Errol had removed his jacket as a result of the excess heat generated by all this hard labour. He was sweating profusely; years of globe-trotting in pursuit of a certain trainer and his Pikachu meant he had dug a lot of traps in his time, but never anything as deep and for as long as this. Wiping his brow, Errol heaved a deep sigh and continued to hack away at the wall.

“Wish youse two'd lend a hand” he told Copi and Li. “Dis is back-breakin’ woik!”

No sooner had he said this, than a silver streak darted past him and buried itself full force into the wall. Errol winced as chunks of dirt and rocks flew everywhere. Li stood back to admire her efforts for a moment or so, before attempting another headbutt. Errol looked expectantly down by his side to where Copi was standing.

"Well? Aren'cha gonna join in?"

Sure, Copi wanted to. But no matter how hard it tried, it just couldn't seem to be able to change his form to something more suitable for the job. It was almost as if someone had pulled the plug and drained it of all its power. It looked somewhat downcast, but decided not to let this phase it. It didn't need another form to be able to help! Picking up a shovel that was twice its height, Copi raised the tool above its head and jammed it down into the rock. After a couple of minutes, it crumpled to the floor upon its knees, panting with exhaustion.

"Dat's not quite what I had in mind..." Errol sweatdropped, before something attracted his attention. “Hey! What’s dat noise?”

Every worker in the tunnel had lifted their gazes to the ceiling as all of a sudden, there was heard an ominous rumble. The ground began to shake violently, causing all the occupants to topple over in unison. There sounded a horrendous crack and a collision of rocks.

 

Then everything went black.

 

As the tremor died down, there could be heard a volley of angry expletives and anxious muttering.

“That @~*&*% quake just blocked up the entrance!” someone exclaimed. “There’s no way out!”

“It’s all dark! Put a light on!”

“I would if I could @~*&*% see where it went, you @~*&*% moron!”

“You ok, kids?” Errol hissed in Copi’s direction. Li responded by diverting some of her electricity into powering her internal lights which proceeded to shine faintly from her eyes.

“Coh copi!” the shiny pink Pokémon gibbered frantically.

“Don’t worry kid. Dere’s nuttin’ ta be scared of,” Errol reassured the Pokémon. “You’re wit us.”

That seemed to calm Copi down somewhat. Errol felt it blindly clamber upon his shoulder once more.

“Coh coh co copi coh co?”

“Well…dere’s nuttin’ we can do,” Errol told it. “We’re pretty much stuck down here wit' dese guys until someone figas out what ta do…”

There resounded another cacophony of profanities from somewhere in the dark. Errol sighed.

 

“I gets da feelin’ gettin' outta here is gonna take a while.”

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

Hyacinth had been incredibly understanding of the travellers’ situation and was willing to offer them a place to stay, not to mention a luscious dinner into the bargain. As expected, this pleased James immensely. The only thing she stood her ground over was the fact that under no circumstances should Doug see any one of the guests while they resided in the vast bungalow. This annoyed the travellers somewhat; it meant that their plan could not continue as a major part of it involved Doug’s skilled assistance. But by now it was late evening, and everyone was longing to clamber under their duvets for a well-earned rest.

They could think of a way round this problem in the morning. Hyacinth took the group along the hallway to their bedrooms, but not before she tried to persuade her son to take in some nutrition. 

“Doug…Doug dearest, your dinner’s waiting.”

“I’m not hungry,” came the muffled reply from behind the bedroom door. Hyacinth let out a patient sigh.

“Are you sure?” she persisted. “If you don’t eat it, it will go to waste.”

“No it won’t!” James exclaimed, only to be silenced by Rose.

“You’ve eaten already!”

“I know, but-”

“He’s the human bottomless pit” Adam chipped in.

“I told you, I’m not hungry!” Doug snapped.

“Well, I can’t say I didn’t try,” Hyacinth remarked, turning from the door. “He’s such a stubborn boy sometimes; he takes after his father.

I shall show the girls to their room then. You three boys can share the guest quarters next door to Doug’s room. There’s plenty of sleeping space for everyone.”

The prospect of an extra meal had completely vanished from James’ head and he and Adam had disappeared through the door. Caley shrugged.

 

“I guess they’re dying to get to sleep”

 

“I’m getting the single bed!”

“No way! That bed is mine!”

“You had it last time!” James retorted. “So now it’s my turn.” He tossed himself lightly onto the mattress in front of Adam before he had a chance to make a move.

“Get off, slimeball!” Adam yelled, raising a fist. James smiled deviously up at him.

“Don’t try anything – it’s been a long, tense day and I’m exhausted. You really shouldn't be putting any undue pressure on me. Any excess stress could cause the effects from that Pokémon DNA to resurface, y'know.”

“You’re lying!” Adam snapped, but James detected a note of uneasiness in his voice. So he put his hands to his head and grimaced in a dramatic fashion.

“Oh! The pain! Now look what you’ve done, it’s come back!”

It was enough to send Adam screaming out of the room.

“YAAAAAAAAAAH! I don’t wanna be fried agaiiiiiiiiiin!” 

Adam thundered into the corridor and ran full force into Caley, knocking him backwards into the opposite wall.

“What’s wrong with you?” Denise exclaimed as the two picked themselves from the floor. “You look terrified!”

“Juh…guh…cha…whuh!” Adam gibbered incomprehensibly while waving his hands up and down at the door he had just emerged from. Everyone peered round the frame to find James in absolute hysterical laughter upon the bed.

“You should have seen his face!” he snorted. “He thought I was going to turn into a Pokémon again!”

Adam’s attempted sentence dissolved into a silent but reddening mixture of anger and humiliation. He left the scene.

“That was pretty mean, James” Caley remarked. His companion chuckled sheepishly.

“Sorry…I couldn’t resist…”

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

            “How much longa have we gotta keep diggin’ for?” Errol complained into the semi-darkness as he struck at the rocky wall in no particular direction.

            “My arms are killin’ me!”

            Copi nodded and grimaced. The Pokemon had managed to provide a bit more support by standing atop Li's head and hacking the rocky surface with the remains of a broken pickaxe. While Li's light provision capabilities gave it a good excuse not to be throwing herself into the wall, Cory was stuck assisting the other workmen and their Pokémon with the arduous task of excavation.

            “Yer keep diggin’ till yer see daylight. Alroight?” grunted one of the other workers.

            “What if we run outta air?” Errol protested.

            “Well its less loikley ta ‘appen if ya stop usin’ it up with all yer gassin!” the same voice snapped. “Now get a move on!”

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

            It was midnight, the air vibrated to the gentle thrum of a young man’s snores from the single bed while on the opposite side of the room two other figures lay reclining on the bunk. One of them was intent in muttering under its breath to itself.

            “You’re not still going on about what happened earlier, are you?” Caley murmured softly.

            “No!” Adam exclaimed in irritable tones, but stopped muttering, so Caley decided that his friend’s original statement had been a false one. “I was annoyed that jerko’s snoring was keeping me awake.”

            There was a short silence.

            “So…you figured it out?” Adam asked.

            “Figured what out?” his companion replied sleepily.

            “How you’re gonna stop this 'tainted virtue' thing,” came the boy's reiteration. “Well first of all I need to figure out what I'm up against,” Caley told him. Adam looked thoughtful for a moment. "Either way, we’re going to need some serious help. And I'm heading towards the best place for it. In the past I studied a lot about Tomary Tower. It is said to be filled with people called Agrarian Seers who are in tune with nature and at one with Pokémon. Furthermore, the tower's guardian is a direct descendant of the 'Ahnloka', a figure who was able to make contact with some incredible force thousands of years ago. I’m sure he would be able to assist us.”

            “So what you’re saying is, you're going to place the fate of everyone in the hands of some ancient hippies and unproven legends," Adam summarised. "That's relying on a whole lotta maybes, Caley."

            "And you'd rather go to nearest Police station and see if maybe they won't lock you away before you can get a word out?" Caley snapped. "Besides, I saw what Team Rocket did to that GM agent Lance. With you guys on the run, they'll be tracking us down. We can't let any more people be victimized in the process."

            "I guess..." Adam mumbled. "That also rules out making calls or sending mail. Rocket agents could easily intercept those. But it's not like you're going to just be able to waltz in that tower."

            "True," Caley nodded. "At least not into the area I need to visit. For that, one must have possession of Tatto's seven gym badges. According to my mum, each badge contains tiny pieces of certain elemental stones which act as an identification code to enter the guardian's chamber. It shouldn't take too long to collect them though, I hope. I have a couple already."

            Adam's curiosity got the better of him at this point. Leaning down from the top bunk, he caught a glimpse of two shiny objects in Caley's hands. One of them was the Ohm Badge he recalled the trainer being given earlier. The other was unfamiliar.

            "Where'd you get that other badge from?" he asked.

            "What, this Menwill badge? I kinda took it from my dad's closet before I left on my journey," Caley responded, a little shamefully. "More as a keepsake than anything else. But it shouldn't be missed - he has quite a few of them lying around."

            "A few?" Adam squeaked. "But that'd make you the son of a gym leader, wouldn't it?"

            "Ex-gym leader," Caley replied. "My dad died from a terminal illness six years ago."

            "Oh," came the awkward reply.

            "But while he was around, he was the best gym leader and coolest dad I could have hoped for," Caley continued with a faint smile. "When this journey is over, I'm going to restore what he left behind and make Prela gym something worth visiting again."

            Adam said nothing. Caley got the feeling there was more on the boy's mind than just guilt over opening up old wounds. In fact, the trainer somehow felt he'd unearthed things in his companion's mind that were better left uncovered.

            "So like it or not you’re going to have to go earn the rest of those badges?” Adam murmured after a long silence.

            “Exactly,” Caley responded firmly. "A message needs to be delivered and since I uncovered Team Rocket's affairs, its my responsibility to tell those who need to know about them. In a way, it seems like the fate of the world is resting upon my shoulders.”

            “Well I think the world’s fate couldn’t be on more reliable shoulders,” Adam concluded with noticeable certainty.

            “Thanks Ad’,”  the trainer smiled faintly, surprised at Adam's compliment. What came out of the adolescent's mouth next was far more predictable.

 

            “At least it’s better than us having to depend on that idiot over there…”

 

            There was a creak, then a resounding crunch that gave way to a splintering of wood, a multitude of cracking sounds and a loud yell, followed shortly by a quieter thud. Caley and Adam sat up in alarm.

            “What was that?” the latter whispered, a note of panic in his voice.

            “I don’t know…” Caley murmured absently, fumbling for the light switch beside the bed. As the faint glow of the bedside lamp began to light up the room, the two figures craned their necks and gawped at the cavernous hole that had suddenly appeared over the other side of the room. It had completely swallowed the bed, and James, from sight. Clambering from the bunk the two boys tiptoed over to the edge of the hole and peered into the dark.

            “Ohhhhhh…my head.”

            “James?”

            “Is that you Caley?” came the dazed reply.

            “Yes. Are you hurt?”

            “No," James responded. "The mattress broke my fall.” His voice began to sound more anxious at this point. “Could you guys help me out now? It’s really dark down here.”

            “Baby,” muttered Adam.

            “Ok, don’t you worry, we’ll figure something out…” Caley called down. Suddenly the foundations began to shudder.

            “Wha…what’s that?” James squeaked. As Adam and Caley toppled sideways from the vibrations they heard another of his frantic screams echo into the room from the gaping hole and fade away as the rumbling subsided. Once the movements were over Caley called out again for his companion’s reply. But there was nothing.

            “Something's got James,” he murmured seriously to Adam, donning his glasses.

 

            “There’s no other way around this. We’ve got to go down there and get him back.”

 

            The door opened and a bright light shone into the room.

            “What on earth…?” Denise and Rose chorused as their sights lit upon the gaping space in the floor where James had fallen.

            “It’s another collapse,” Caley told them. “And I think whatever caused it captured James.”

            “We’ve got to save him!” exclaimed Rose.

            “But how are we meant to get down there?” Denise asked nervously, peering into the hole. One of the boards shifted under her feet. With a cry of surprise the girl fell forwards, causing her three companions to dive toward her to try and stop her descent. But the momentum was too strong; more boards began to slide and break away, causing the entire group to plummet full force into the darkness.

 

            “AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!”

 

            “Uh…is everyone ok?” Caley’s anxious voice echoed into the air.

“Mrrrrf…” someone replied in muffled tones.

“Caley! Your foot’s in my face, you moron!” Adam yelled angrily. The light reappeared and as Caley looked about in alarm, he noticed Rose had located the portable flashlight that had previously been in his coat pocket, and that he happened to be perched precariously upon Denise and Adam. The trainer backed off apologetically, while Denise tried to remove the layer of mud that she had landed in from her face.

            “Well, that solved our ‘getting into the hole’ problem,” Rose remarked, shining the torch up and down the cavernous, almost seemingly endless expanse of tunnel in both directions.

            “Now the question is, where did James go?”           

            In answer to their puzzle, an immense shriek was heard from some way away.

            “Caley? Denise? Rose! Adaaaaaaaaaaaaam! Anyone! HELP ME!”

            “He’s thataway…” Denise pointed to the left, then backed aside. “You first, Rose.”

            The aforementioned figure and her guiding light dashed ahead, pursued by her companions, towards the source of the noise, and what they thought would be the answer to everyone’s problems.

 

 

            Or more likely, in their case, the beginning of quite a few more. 

   

 

            “If that jerk’s not careful he’s gonna bring this entire tunnel down with all his yelling,” Adam remarked bemusedly as the travellers continued their chase after their kidnapped team mate. It had taken them three minutes so far and still it felt like they had not managed to draw any closer to James, or the object that had snatched him and dragged him into the surrounding labyrinth in which they now found themselves.

            Rose waved her torch indecisively. The group had just entered another network of interweaving tunnels and she was lost as to which one James had disappeared into.

            “It’s unbelievable down here,” Caley murmured in awe.

            “Yeah…” Denise nodded. “All these structures in such a short time. Who, or what could have done such a thing?”

The ground began to shake, causing everyone to crouch defensively. As the rumbling became louder, so did James’ panic-stricken shouts. The passing object moved by so rapidly that no one caught sight of it in the glare of the torchlight. But Caley’s glasses gave a definitive bleep.

            “Aha!” the trainer announced, as the rumbling and vibrations died down once more. “I think we’ve found our culprit.”

“It’s a Pokémon?” the others exclaimed.

“Yes, and not just any Pokémon, it’s an enhanced Pokémon,” Caley replied, in a matter-of-fact way. “One of the ones we freed from the Team Rocket Laboratory. Its name is ‘Buri’. It’s a hyped-up form of Dugtrio; over six times as big with just as much speed. And according to this T-1 Pokédex reading, Buri never stays still unless all three of its heads fall asleep at the same time.”

“And there’s a one in a million chance of that happening,” Adam remarked.

“The best way to slow a Pokémon is to weaken it” Denise piped up. “What does your Pokédex say about Buri’s type?”

“It says it’s a ground type, but the record also mentions some steel properties…”

Caley trailed off as he noticed Denise had stopped listening and was unhitching her Pokéball from her belt.

“Go, Rilly!”

“What are you doing?” Caley exclaimed as the fin-eared Pokémon appeared out of the light with a leap of joy at its release. Denise looked at him like he was asking a stupid question.

“Ground types are weak against water types Caley, you should know that!”

“Yeah, but you should know that spraying water about in this tunnel is going to soften up the walls which could then fall on us,” the trainer insisted, folding his arms. Denise hunched her shoulders miserably.

“Oh yeah...I really thought we were getting somewhere then.“

"Is it me or do those vibrations seem to be getting worse?” Rose gazed up in the air. A tiny crack had appeared in the tunnel ceiling, directly above the heads of the group members. They began to back away as the crack began to lengthen and widen until it seemed to bend inwards in a shower of dust, wood and earth. Through the plume of debris a small figure fell into the mud with a yell.

Once the cloud raised from the sudden cave-in had dispersed Caley edged toward the shuddering form lying below him and prodded it cautiously. The person lifted its head and coughed out a few chunks of dirt.

“Caley?”

“Doug!" the trainer spluttered. "Are you ok?”

“I think so…” the boy murmured under his breath. “How did you get down here? I thought you had gone to bed!”

“We had,” Adam muttered. “Then Caley’s idiot friend fell through the floor and got carried off by some mutant Pokémon.”

“So that’s what’s been making all these tracks everywhere?” Doug gasped. A harsh cry resounded from somewhere inside the tunnel. It seemed to be a combination of three voices all at once in one mutual outburst and as the shaking increased so did the frequency of the cries.

“That sounds a lot more animal than human” Rose murmured. “It’s definitely not James.”

“It must be Buri” Denise said. “And it sounds like it’s in a lot of pain."

“Those tremors are too strong!” Doug exclaimed anxiously. “If that creature continues to move about the entire tunnel network is going to collapse on us all!”

“What can we do?” Caley asked.

“We have to lure the Pokémon out into the open” Doug replied. “There you can deal with it as you see fit”

“And how are we meant to lure it outside when we’re stuck inside, in this tunnel?” Adam snorted.

“That won’t be a problem!” Doug grinned, and fishing a Pokéball from his pocket he threw it to the ground.

“Go, Mazza!”

As the light dimmed, Caley and his friends craned their necks and gaped at the lanky, blue reptilian creature with finned arms and two oddly-shaped 'horns' that ran alongside its shark-like head instead of sticking up. It scanned the group intently with its beady yellow eyes.

“This is a Gabite,” Doug told them. “An interesting ground type from Sinnoh, but there’s no time to talk about things like this.

 

Mazza! Find a weak point in the rock where we can break through to the outside!”

 

The Gabite stood to attention in almost military fashion before sidestepping toward the side of the tunnel and scrutinizing the earth without sign of effort.

“Now all ground types are highly attracted to vibrations emitted by others,” Doug explained. “All we’ve got to do is make enough of a tremor and Buri will be drawn towards us!”

It was at this point that Doug’s Gabite had given out a call of triumph, lifted its finned arms back and bore away into the tunnel wall with a shower of debris and an incredibly harsh noise that caused everyone in the tunnel (even Doug) to cover up their ears in pain.

“That doesn’t sound right!” Doug yelled above the racket. “Digging through earth doesn’t usually make such a noise! That sounds more like drilling through concrete!”

Then realisation hit him. Doug’s eyes widened and he tried to make his voice heard above the thrum of the digging to get his Pokémon to stop, but it was easily drowned out by the noise of its work. With a final crumble the wall in front of them gave way and Doug took a step back in horror as the faces of several hundred townspeople stared angrily back at him.

His fears had been confirmed, Mazza had broken through the side of a building. And the building just so happened to be his own gym where over half the town’s population happened to be staying that night.

“He’s at it again with the digging and stuff!” someone yelled. “We’ve got to stop him before he buries us all!”

“Get him! And his little friends too!” screeched another, and without hesitation the entire mob upped from their makeshift beds that had been arranged neatly about the arena and began to chase after Doug, Caley and the others.

“Heyyy! This weren’t my idea!” Adam cried miserably. Doug tried to explain as he ran, but the townspeople just weren’t in the mood to listen. They thundered across the arena in one huge swarm, every pair of feet drumming against the floor giving off an ominous rumble.

“Surely they’ll bring the roof down on us by making all these vibrations.” Denise muttered. Doug’s face lit up.

“Just a little longer…” he snickered.

“Longer?” Adam wheezed. “If I run much further I’m gonna keel over!”

Suddenly a little girl screamed and pointed towards the gaping hole where Doug and his companions had emerged.

“What is that?”

It was over eleven foot tall with dark green skin and six shiny, metallic claws which gleamed in the glare of the gym arena lamps. Its three equally nasty-looking heads with their long protruding fangs and narrow yellow eyes passed their icy gaze over the population of Pachna Gym's expansive battle area. Rose’s mouth dropped open as she spied a nasty-looking deep red mark that covered its entire right-hand side.

“That must have been why it was making such an awful noise” she exclaimed. “It looks like it’s been burned, badly! But how…”

“Look!” someone exclaimed. “Someone’s on its back!”

There arose a gasp as the crowd’s sights alighted upon the limp, slightly charred body that was somehow attached by a fold in its sweater to the back of the creature.

“It’s James! He’s still there,” Rose gasped thankfully.

“But he’s out cold” Denise murmured. “He must have fainted from fear”

“What a little wim-”

Adam gave out a weird high-pitched squeak of terror and dived behind Caley as Buri’s three heads gave out a unanimous roar of anger. And then it charged. Caley grasped Denise by the arm and pulled her aside as Buri ploughed into the throng, tossing people aside like so many matchsticks. Anyone with the sense to make a break for it had done so but Caley had already realised what the Pokémon’s motives were. It wanted to get back underground again after its sudden outburst of fury.

“We can’t let it escape!” Caley yelled above the thrumming of Buri’s movements.

“We need to stun it long enough so Denise’s Aquarill has a clear shot at it,” Rose called out.

“What about those flood lamps, if we were to overload a few of them the brighter light caused by extra electric charge would temporarily blind Buri,” Denise pointed out.

“Excellent idea!” Caley agreed. “Doug? Where’s the light terminal?”

“Over by the arena entrance!” Doug told him.

“Mazza? Pry that terminal box open!”

“Kota! Tear out those fuses!” Caley commanded, tossing the Pokéball across the hall towards the huge double doors of the entrance. As the purple psychic dragon leapt out of the light it flew over to join the Gabite, which was now busy prying open the side of the terminal box casing. But Denise wasn’t content with waiting for the Pokémon to be stilled.

“Try and aim for Buri’s back!” she hissed to Aquarill. The enhanced aquamouse Pokémon shot a stream of ice-cold water into the air. Over the people’s heads it soared, but instead of making contact with its proper target, it completely soaked its passenger, causing him to cry out in alarm. Buri, temporarily distracted by the noise, swung round to see what caused it and reeled backwards as its vision was hit by the full potential of the blazing flood lamps. Many of the townspeople who had not covered up their eyes also gave out curses and shocked exclamations, as their vision was also affected.

While the creature swayed from side to side, trying to regain its equilibrium, Caley thrust a finger towards the other end of the room.

“Now, Denise!”

The girl and her Pokémon companion dashed toward the green mass, the crowd parted as they came closer, too stunned and confused by the sudden turn of events that were happening to stand in her way.

“Do it Aquarill!” yelled Denise. Another water blast was unleashed, and this time it made direct contact and Buri toppled to its side, throwing James to the ground with it. His sweater now detached from the Pokémon, James staggered to his feet and managed to back away somewhat before falling into the lap of an astonished bystander. Denise brought out one of the two empty Rocket balls that she's brought from the HQ and aimed it at Buri’s quietly whimpering form. It didn’t try to escape; it knew it had been beaten.

As the ball made contact it enveloped Buri in a bright ray of light, which disappeared. The ball then fell to the floor of the arena, motionless, leaving Denise to pick it up and place it back on her belt, and promptly get ambushed by a joyful member of the crowd, the rest of which had erupted into cheers and applause.

“What skill…” someone murmured in awe.

“I wanna be just like her when I grow up!” a little girl cried excitedly. Caley and the others rushed over to James’ side as the appraisal continued. He was sadly examining the corner of his sweater that happened to have a small hole burnt through it.

“Are you ok?” Rose asked softly.

“Apart from being scared out of my wits and getting soaked to the skin, yeah I’m fine…” James murmured a little uneasily and rather irritably, rubbing at his neck. “I also seemed to have gotten a really sore throat somehow.”

“Must have been from all that yelling,” Denise remarked. “Buri didn’t seem to put up much of a fight, it was almost like it had been weakened prior to me spraying it with water.”

“I think I’d had something to do with that nasty burn on its side,” Caley said, looking at the hole in James’ sweater. “Whatever did such a thing caught part of James’ clothing as well”

“Did you get ambushed by any fire Pokémon while you were down there?” Denise asked her companion, who gave her a look of puzzlement.

“What would a fire Pokémon be doing in a tunnel under the ground?” Adam exclaimed.

“The kid has a point,” James nodded. “I never saw a soul down there…”

“Well, that doesn’t solve anything," Rose muttered to herself. How could the Pokémon and its human passenger have become subject to such searing flames without James having any recollection of the occurrence?

The crowd fell silent as little Doug stepped up onto one of the battling platforms to gain height over the new residents of his gym.

“You will no longer need to worry about any more floor collapses or earthquakes, we have caught the creature responsible! I promise to do all I can to help restore Pachna Town to its proper state, then life for you all can go back to normal.”

For them, maybe, Caley thought. But not for me…

 

…not any more.

 

The arena doors slammed open and the seething countenance of Hyacinth Muddem stormed into the hall.

“DOUG!” she screamed. “GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!”

The crowd turned, and one of the townspeople, a previous mob leader from that morning, stepped forward.

“We are so sorry for accusing your son of making all this mess,” they said. Hyacinth raised her eyebrows.

“You mean it wasn’t him?”

“No, it was a rampaging Pokémon the likes of which no one has ever seen," the leader exclaimed. "But now it is contained, thanks to Doug and his marvellous companions.”

Caley’s eyes shot open as Cew's words resurfaced in his mind once more. Had the ‘dark presence’ it wanted the trainer to bring under control really just been that one Pokémon? Caley didn’t think so; Buri hadn’t seemed that evil at all, just very confused, not to mention grouchy. There had to be more to the instructions that had been projected into his head, Caley was sure of it.

“Caley?” came Denise's impatient voice.

“What?” he murmured absently.

“Doug was just talking to you!”

“Oh! Sorry…" the trainer scratched the back of his head. "What did you say, Doug? I guess I kinda zoned-out there.”

“I noticed,” the boy chuckled. He was too pleased with his recent triumph and regaining the townspeople’s respect to worry about such small things. “I'd just been saying how much I appreciated the trust you held in me when everyone else seemed so intent to believe rumours. I wanted to thank you and your friends for helping me stop that strange Pokémon.

 

I've never seen such a weird-looking creature; do you have any idea where it came from?”

 

Caley scanned the expressions of his ex-Rocket companions; they were all in a similar state of ‘don’t-tell-him-the-truth’ and even though Caley desperately hated to make up stories to cover his actions, he had to agree that maybe keeping the secret of the enhanced Pokémon under wraps would be the best idea, so as not to provoke any more worry or outrage. He responded to Doug's question with a shake of the head.

"I'm just a guy trying to keep the peace."

Doug looked about in vain for the other unknown Pokémon, the one with the long finned ears, not knowing that Denise had already returned it to its Pokéball once the job had been completed so no one would ask any more questions, and shrugging, decided that maybe he had hallucinated the creature instead. By now most of the inhabitants of the arena had settled down and drawn their attentions away from the conversing group; some had even returned to their sleeping bags to catch up on some lost naptime.

“You’re a very brave boy, Doug," Hyacinth smiled proudly, placing a hand on her son’s shoulder. "I’m sorry for not believing you.”

Doug returned his mother's smile before looking back at his friends, who were looking rather paled by their night's experiences.

“Can we get back to bed now?” Adam whined exhaustedly. James shot him a sideways glance.

“That would be kind of impossible considering the floor of the room we were staying in has pretty much gone.”

“Yes, my house is now as unstable as everyone else’s, what with the tunnel under it and all,” Doug sighed. “But not to worry! We can camp out in the gym’s canteen until tomorrow.”

“Yeah! Then when we get up we can eat breakfast in there too!” James tagged on, a grin spreading the entire width of his face. The rest of the group gave out a groan of disbelief. After all he’d been through, still the first thing on James’ mind was the potential of the next scheduled meal.

 

“I don’t believe you…” Adam muttered.