11th Move: Funky Spelunky

11th Move: Funky Spelunky

Goldenrod City

My spontaneous decision to capture Yecu as part of my team had been paying dividends. 

Even beyond his role as my emergency food supply, my Krabby had plenty of uses. Not the least of which was portable plumbing. Because of him I could have clean drinking water whenever I needed and take a shower wherever I happened to be pitching my tent, and in future I knew I could use him as my own personal yacht. Water Pokemon were indispensable tools for trainers on their journey. 

Creak. But as I shut off the faucet and watched the soapy water swirl into the drain, I had to admit, “there’s nothing quite like a hot shower.” 

“No, there isn’t. So if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate a Baton Pass, buddy!” A stranger’s voice interrupted my reverie as he called out from the other side of the shower stall. I’m not sure if the lack of privacy was a good enough trade-off for warm water - especially when I’m trying to dry my undercarriage. 

“Wait your Flipping Turn, will you?” Fully dry, I wrapped my towel around my waist, stepped into my slippers, collected my toiletries, and exited in a plume of steam. Better rain in my aura a little, because not all of that was from the shower itself. 

“Yeowch! It’s like a sauna in here,” the next patron complained as he brushed past me to enter the vacated stall. As a move tutor, it was my job to teach lessons. 

Every Pokemon center had lodging facilities over and above their healing services. 

For a nominal fee, any and every licensed trainer got access to public baths, storage lockers, a laundromat, as well as a cafeteria that served nutritious, if basic meals, for us and our Pokemon. Most critically, we also got somewhere to sleep. 

We trainers colloquially referred to them as Combee hotels. Because they’re convenient, and the capsule beds are shaped and spaced like Combee honeycomb nests. 

It was late enough that the lights in the rest area were dimmed to a minimum, and there were only a few warm, orange glows on the wall of hexagons. So I was unashamed as I returned near naked to my capsule. 

When I’d arrived in the city, my plan was to splurge a little and get a suite at one of the private hotels. However, between the GTS, gym circuit, and game corner, the entirety of Goldenrod was in triple-g gridlock. The only reason I wasn’t roughing it with the other unhappy campers still stuck in tents was because of my Pokedex. 

Being a sponsored trainer didn’t mean I was going to get VIP treatment everywhere I went. That’s what getting more badges would do. But at the very least, they put me at the top of the list of trainers waiting for vacant rooms.

“And tomorrow, you’re gonna once more prove to me why I worked so hard to get you.” I set my alarm and put my dex next to my team’s pokeballs. That was about all I could fit in here besides myself. 

–

Union Cave 

Suited, booted - and after one last visit to the center toilets - tooted, I made my way out of Goldenrod, backtracked through my old campsite, and headed down towards Union cave. 

Normally, I wouldn’t have bothered trekking all the way here unless I was planning to head to Azalea town. As it was, the cave was one of the only two throughways connecting Azalea to the rest of the region. Unless, of course, you had a flyer. 

I would have preferred dumpster diving for either a Rattata, Meowth or Grimer in the dingy back alleys of Goldenrod. But local authorities - including the gym - weren’t about to risk public safety. Which ultimately meant that as long as the town leaders were doing their job right, I’d not see more than a few roving packs of those Pokemon harassing the occasional street vendor. 

Marowak, Raichu and Exeggutor weren’t even worth mentioning. I was still too fresh to handle catching fully evolved Pokemon. And neither did I have the time or resources to nurture them from their pre-evolved forms. 

Adopting the favourite past-time of Galarian aristocracy, I could have also gone Vulpix hunting. More than a decent chance I’d run into my fair share of foxholes if I cut across National Park, and headed north from Goldenrod to Route 37. 

But when you’re out hunting Pokemon, sometimes getting the specific one you want is a numbers game. Union cave held three potential species in Geodude, Sandshrew, or Diglett. All of this information handily available courtesy of the habitat list in my dex.

Although that wasn’t the only reason I’d chosen my destination.

“In economics news, the Pokemon league has announced the auction for the newly discovered vein of minerals in Mt. Mortar. Several leading public and private firms, including Silph co., Viridian city gym, alongside foreign conglomerates such as Stone enterprises out of Hoenn, and Driftveil city originating from the Unova region, will be in attendance. Each faction bidding for the mining rights-” Click! No thanks. I was in the market for something a little more valuable than a few precious stones at the moment. “The Johto chapter of the Ranger corps has issued a travel advisory for civilians in the following areas: Route 42, Union cave, and the surrounding wilderness of the corresponding areas. We encourage all trainers to rush over for potentially rare and exciting new members for their teams!”

Mass outbreaks!

There were several reasons why mass outbreaks occurred. Most predominantly migration and territorial disputes. 

Once in a while, large herds or flocks of Pokemon would temporarily settle into pit-stops en route from one of their natural stomping grounds to the next. Usually because of seasonal changes, chasing their favourite food source, and for their chosen spawning grounds. These were predictable patterns. 

The more unusual and unpredictable outbreaks happened when a pack of Pokemon got an unhealthy dose of overconfidence. Suddenly deciding that they needed to expand their glorious empires and encroach on others’ habitat. This happened typically as a result of new pack leaders in the form of a fresh evolution or a collection of alphas drawing in crowds of their own species to fulfill their expansionist ambitions. Basically, we strong, we many, we take. 

Guaranteeing a domino effect - where the Pokemon the outbreak pushed out, muscled in on other turfs, and so on and so forth until there was a risk of towns and cities being overrun. 

Which was why the league incentivized trainers to go ahead and take advantage of this. They needed to reduce numbers and hopefully take care of the source of the issue, and the limited number of rangers in the region could only do so much by themselves. 

They were called swarms back in the day for good reason. 

Soon enough, this entire cave system was going to be trampled by the human species. I had no intention of capturing and trading them. It was highly frowned upon. 

“Alright, let’s see.” I was barely inside the entrance of the cave, but despite that, there was already plenty of data to confirm a disturbance. Scat (and I wasn’t talking about jazz). Evidence of scuffles, like Pokemon leavings and pockets of damage. But most importantly for me, a fresh trail for me to follow right to my quarry. 

I knelt down and carefully surveyed the storm of footprints stamped across the dirt floor. There was a spot littered with slashes, divots, and crushed rock. Pulling out my Pokedex, I ran its scanner over the pile of detritus. Beep! Until it locked on to something unusual. 

My dex rapidly parsed through the summary pages of the suspected Pokemon. Diglett, Geodude, ‘til finally settling on Sandshrew’s page. 

The camera fixed on to a specific footprint. It automatically initiated a comparison of its internal data. Width, length, and even depth. “Species confirmed: Sandshrew. Appendage size comparison, and weight estimates based on sediment compaction, suggest at minimum a one-hundred percent greater value of mass in reference to recorded species baseline. Result indicate variation as-”

“Alpha!” My excited girl interrupted the Pokedex’s analysis. But I didn’t need to hear anymore. 

I carefully traced the path the footprints took, deeper into the cave. Thankfully, owing to its status as an official tunnel route, there were plenty of lamps overhead that kept at least the first level of the tunnel well lit. Then I descended the stairs, heading down to the lower level. 

As distances between the slightly dimmer lamps got greater, my site wasn’t the only thing that was diminished. The chittering of dozens and dozens of Sandshrew was almost deafening as it echoed across the cavern. 

Almost like an entire forest of angry Kricketot trying to drown me in sound. 

I slunk behind a large boulder. In a flash of muted red light, I released Yecu, my Krabby. Water beats ground; simple as. 

Gently, I placed my hand on his carapace to limit his normal effervescence, and hushed him. Using his little claw, he saluted me, signaling his understanding. 

Next, I minimized my dex’s backlighting and set it to monitor the constant chirping using the Pokemon cry function. The reduced lighting meant that I’d have a harder time discovering my prey. Better to set my tool on vibrate, so that it can play hide and seek for me. 

The very last piece of equipment I pulled out was a dusk ball. I wanted to guarantee this capture as much as possible. Green and black dusk balls were ideal to use in the darkness; whether at night, or if you were in an area where the sun don’t shine, their capture rate was equally good. Would’ve been higher if I was targeting dark or ghost Pokemon. So it was the best I could do with the resources currently available to me. 

A heavy ball, since I was after an alpha, was undeniably the preeminent choice. However, they were super rare and expensive - usually only available through private sellers and auctions. 

Yecu was alert and scuttled by my side as we shifted deeper into the cave. The Pokedex jolted intermittently in my hand as it locked in on the deeper tone and lower pitch that identified an alpha variant. 

The closer I got, the harder it vibrated. 

To the best of my non-existent stealth capabilities, I was careful not to disturb the regular Sandshrew. Being burrowers, they didn’t have the best eyesight, so were relatively easy to skirt around.

Sandshrew were also neither overly aggressive nor skittish. Which meant that the few that spotted me tended to curl up into a ball and wait for me to pass them by. The worst I got was a mouthful of dirt when I accidentally got too close to one before it scurried away underground. 

Dsh-dsh-ew. Even as my ears twitched at that unmistakably bassy thrum, my Pokedex trembled gaplessly. 

I immediately halted my steps and hugged the wall tighter than I already had been. Holding my breath, I peered around the rocky corner. 

My eyes nearly popped out of my skull. “Shiny-!?” I aborted the whisper before I could get too excited. “No…” A lantern hung on the ceiling above the cavern pool, casting the surrounding locale in a blue glow. There was a Sandshrew sipping water, its yellow hide looking greener than normal because of it. 

Cheeky little thing almost made me yell out and sand-screwed up this entire operation. 

The only reason I didn’t sic Yecu on it as a matter of principle was because, after it was done drinking, it waddled back to its nest and curled up to nap next to a few others of its pack. One of whom happened to be twice the size of all the rest. 

Asleep, in the dark, and given the chips on parts of its bricky hide, not long off a battle. The capture rate couldn’t get any higher.

Oh, yeah. It’s all coming together. The Staryu were all aligning. With a click of the central button, the dusk ball expanded to full size. Keeping low, I shuffled around the corner as quietly as I could. I stepped as close as I dared - as near as I could to be certain of my aim. I threw my arm forward, flicked my wrist, and the dusk ball sailed ahead at full speed. 

Pah! It impacted the sleeping alpha Sandshrew. Shwoop! Sucked the Pokemon into itself with a beam of red light, and clamped shut. 

The small colony of shrews collapsed at the sudden loss of their big boy. Some panicked and fled, while others snapped into their defensive reflex. 

The dusk ball fell and rolled away slightly. Wobble, wobble…. wobble…. Click! Successful catch. Yecu sped over and collected the ball for me, while I was too busy twirling in celebration. “I’m gonna be the very best? I already am!” 

Unfortunately, that joy was short-lived. 

“Man, I told you this wasn’t the way to Slowpoke well. The executive’s gonna skin us alive for being late!”

“I know, already! Whatever, let’s just rob this guy. Maybe the boss’ll have mercy on us if we have some new Pokemon to show as an excuse.” 

I ran into a couple of Rockets in the middle of my moonwalk.