As a Psychic Pokemon, she had a heightened mind and was naturally attuned to the emotions of everyone around her. Which was why she could tell that everyone was deeply afraid. And like everyone else, she hid deeply and averted her eyes from the carnage.

  It hadn’t been even a month when that metal predator invaded but ever since, it dominated the underground, brutalizing any Pokemon that it came across. Fortunately, its destruction was deep within the earth or those things from above would have noticed. Or perhaps unfortunately as those things which came with other Pokemon from elsewhere might have taken down the predator by now. It was difficult to tell as she was quite unfamiliar with them and hid whenever close to being discovered by psychically diverting them whenever they came near. She did not want any more holes and destruction to be had in this fragile place and she knew they were creatures of greed.

  When powerful Nidoking finally decided to take a stand, she thought it was all over for the predator like everyone else but they were wrong. Tremendous Earthquake. Devastating Brick Break. Relentless Thrash. Blow after blow Nidoking landed but the predator endured and fought back with even greater ferocity. Even the powerful poison Nidoking only reserved for the most dire of situations had no effect. And when Nidoking lay battered and bruised, the predator didn’t relent and beat Nidoking until he bled and fled with his spirit broken.

  If only her father had stayed then the situation might have already been resolved. However, the last words she had been given were, “We belong on the surface. Since you were born here, you won’t understand but when you’re ready, see the world, the Pokemon, and the people. Their emotions are intense and varied but once you understand them, you will learn to stop hiding in fear”

  She then stopped reminiscing as he had left ages ago and would never return.

  Soon the metal predator caught the ire of the Steel Titan and things got worse in the deep. The two engaged in a brutal assault with neither side yielding even a bit of territory while endlessly encroaching with a persistent zeal. Both were resilient and lethal, laying waste even to those caught in between.

  And now as they wait for the conclusion of the feud, those from above descended. Once again, she attempted to psychically divert them from the passage but failed. Not because she was incapable but because she felt far deeper fear. The arrival of a third Titan, as formidable or even greater than even the metal predator and the Steel Titan which guarded the underground. She could not glimpse its true form but it was a deep blue abyss marked with two red eyes. Hidden in a small form that seemed unbecoming for one with such great power.

  A deep innate nature which she could not have discerned without her heightened abilities gained through spying on the predator to help the other less fortunate Pokemon. But unlike the other two, it could sense her psychic abilities so she couldn’t even observe from afar.

  She then steeled her resolve. Even without true prophetic abilities or something similar like Absol, she could tell the new Titan heralded a greater calamity.

  The group continued forward at slow pace, taking note of all the peculiar Pokemon that resided in this chamber, some which typically did not belong to caves.

  Nidoran of both genders and colors, which huddled together while partially cowering. A Zangoose with patchy fur likely caused by recent battles. Pairs of Illumise and Volbeat which were supposed to be under the night sky not in caves.

  Then there were those that were from caves yet were quite rare in Sinnoh. A Chingling that didn’t make a sound and refused to move. A group of toppled Baltoy. And then the most notable was an Absol which didn’t even glance at the group. It only stared at the other end of the cave as if anticipating something.

  Many of the Pokemon seemed to be strangely weary but not all of them were like that. There was a floating Bronzor alongside a Meditite struggling to maintain its meditative stance. To the side, a Mawile rested without any intention of battle as its huge jaws were facing the other direction. And the Pokemon that seemed to belong the most was Sableye which dug out crystals, only to feast on them as if consuming a true delicacy.

  “There are a lot of Rare Pokemon here”, Gavin remarked as he wasn’t familiar with a good amount of them.

  “That’s what it’s like in the Underground. It’s full of special places with Rare Pokemon. But usually they don’t seem this … worn out”, Colin stated after a bit more observation.

  “Yeah, it’s nice to meet all these new Pokemon but they seem to be in trouble. Hmmm… How many potions do you have right now?”, Christine then said to Harrison.

  Harrison considered telling her that they’ll recover since they’re not currently at risk of being harmed further but he decided against it and just handed her a bunch of potions from his bag.

  She then approached the Zangoose with patchy fur in the distance, ignoring its attempts at intimidation with its Leer and its show of sharp claws. The Zangoose then quieted down as it felt the medicinal effects of the Potion with each continuous spray.

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  “Zan-zang”, it then said reluctantly with gratitude.

  “...Even I’d think twice about going near those claws”, Colin muttered.

  “Yeah, that’s something I’d expect from Harrison”, Gavin stated while they watched the Zangoose out of caution.

  She then stopped once all the glaring injuries were treated and she moved onto the Nidoran, careful not to come into contact with their poisonous points.

  The rumbling deep underground increased in magnitude.

  Noticing the movement in the earth, Colin then said to the group, “I’ll go check what’s up ahead. You guys stay behind and help heal the wounded”

  Colin then let out his Machoke from its Pokeball and said, “Keep these kids safe while I check the other part of this cavern”

  “Macho!”, the Machoke stated and Colin promptly left.

  Harrison then handed a few Potions to Gavin and murmured, “Good thing healthcare is affordable here”

  “I guess? But it’s not like we can just drag all of them all the way up to the Pokemon Center”, Gavin responded, slightly confused as to what Harrison meant.

  “Even regular Potions are quite incredible let alone the Pokemon Center”, Harrison muttered aloud as he walked away. These people likely wouldn’t and couldn’t ever understand how magical their healthcare is as they had portable miracle medicines and wouldn’t have to wait months for something broken to heal. It’d take minutes, not even days.

  Harrison approached the Absol but paused to claw at the air, shattering the psychic waves that targeted his psyche. He then turned his eyes upwards to stare at a ledge jutting out of the chamber where a Pokemon with green hair and a red horn was hiding.

  “RALTS!”, it shouted at him as it knew it had been discovered.

  Harrison frowned as there was no need to interpret the meaning when the Ralts simultaneously shouted “STAY AWAY!” telepathically.

  The urgency displayed by Ralts then began to rouse some of the weary Pokemon. Other than the ones which were already treated, the Pokemon began to feel a sense of apprehension around the humans. Christine had to let go when the Volbeat abruptly began flying in the process of treatment while Gavin was attempting to calm down the Meditite.

  Soon after, the only Mawile stepped forward alongside a Sableye which was still munching on a small chunk of blue crystal. Colin’s Machoke then got into position when it took notice of what seemed to be a confrontation.

  “RALTS RALTS!”, it then shouted which agitated the Mawile and Sableye. Alarmed, Machoke moved in to intercept but Sableye interfered, allowing the Mawile to lunge forward with its huge jaws which clamped down.

  Instead of dodging, Harrison dropped the Potion he was holding and held the huge jaw in place. He then stood firm as Mawile struggled considerably to clamp down.

  “Maaaawwwww?”, it awkwardly stated from its front mouth as it struggled desperately to move its larger maw. After a few more moments of attempting to bite down, it then tried to pry its huge jaws free from the human’s grasp only to relent when it felt as if its huge teeth were going to be pulled out.

  Harrison then sighed. More troubled by the drool coming out of Mawile’s maw than the power of its huge jaws which had enough room to crush a human skull.

  This is the problem with Psychic types, Harrison thought. They can’t fully understand you but they always assume they do when they “read your mind” and barely grasp the bare minimum of what you ruminate on. They then go to the extremes with their paranoia from having peeked into your mind despite lacking the context. It was far far worse when they were complete strangers.

  He couldn’t fault the Pokemon for reacting negatively when told that he was going to beat them to the point that they would be bedridden for entire months but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t defend himself.

  The Mawile then began to frantically thrash around as it was unable to budge its huge jaws despite possessing enough power to bite through iron beams.

  “Sol”, the Absol firmly stated which quieted the two Pokemon and seemingly frustrated Ralts. Even Mawile ceased its motion although it began to quiver instead as if frightened.

  He then let go of Mawile when the mood shifted and the Pokemon immediately ran away.

  A small pillar of light then appeared where Ralts teleported with the intention to persuade Absol. The two Pokemon then seemed to argue with Ralts losing more and more ground on the few occasions that Absol did respond. When the conversation concluded, Absol bowed its head at Harrison as if in apology.

  The Ralts then pointed at Harrison furiously and telepathically shouted, “They’re only accepting of you because they don’t know what kind of monster you are on the inside. No proper Psychic Pokemon would ever be by your side”

  Absol looked at the Ralts disapprovingly which made her hesitate.

  Harrison did not respond immediately as he felt the enmity was quite severe despite being unwarranted. Before he could say something, his Abra let itself out of the Pokeball. Maestro then stared at the Ralts for a while before stating through telepathy, “Oh? Then what am I?”

  Christine and Gavin then approached out of concern as they heard the commotion but Harrison signaled for them to stay put as more humans would likely trigger the Ralts even more.

  On the other side of the large chamber, Colin halted as he observed the numerous craters which riddled the cave walls. Signs of a battle. The closer he got, the more intense the rumbling and he could already tell that they were caused by two powerful Pokemon clashing viciously. To make matters worse, they weren’t even next to the chamber but deep underground.

  “Shit… I hope Roark gets here soon”, Colin muttered and prepared to call forth his other Pokemon.