Chương 139: Chapter 136

Thirty minutes of tense rock moving passed before the Steelix gave itself a wiggle of anticipation. The Steelix did not appear friendly, but it also wasn't hampering their attempts at helping it out. For maybe the first time, Ethan really hoped that his empathic ability was working and letting the enormous steel snake know that they weren't enemies.

It didn't work with Vespiqueen, so pokemon could still ignore what they felt from him and make their own choices, and that was both reassuring and spooky at the same time. Ursaring was always a quiet and standoffish pokemon. That didn't change much down here, but now she had added a deathly glare and the readiness for absolute violence if it was required. The Steelix had noticed, of course. It was hard not to notice something like an Ursaring glaring into your soul, telling you to behave yourself.

It wasn't appreciating the look, but it didn't have much of a choice. Ethan finished rolling a rock to the side of the cavern room and whispered to Smeargle as his painter did the same.

"If things go bad, try to use Dark Void to put it to sleep. I don't want to hurt an already hurt pokemon if I can help it." Smeargle nodded his agreement conspiratorially as they once again got to moving the last of the rubble keeping Steelix in place. As he moved the next rock up against Steelix's side, Ethan saw the downward bend of the snake's body, going into a tunnel from below.

Ethan chucked the stone to the side and looked up to the ceiling, trying to make out its shape and appearance in the vast darkness of the cave. Smeargle's tiny wisp of Flamethrower was their only light source now that Brock, Ash, and Dawn had left. The little flame flickered and swished behind Smeargle as he moved about, his tail acting as a third limb to hold the flashlight for dad.

He couldn't make out the entirety of the cavern's roof, but judging by the amount of rock and stone, the tunnel, Steelix's face and body being dented, and what he assumed to be the tunneling nature of the pokemon in question… Maybe Steelix climbed upwards through the Earth, entered into this room from below by the tunnel which still had half of its body inside, and banged his head on the ceiling? Did it cause an Earthquake with the force of the blow, or did it use the move in anger and pain?

Weren't Steelix supposed to be, like, way deep under the ground? Why was it so near the surface? Steelix chose that moment to give itself another wiggle, testing its movement. At first, it was only a minor tremor—then suddenly the sound of groaning metal and tumbling stone led to a slowly shifting mass of monster and a roar of effort which nearly deafened Ethan as it bounced around the echoing chamber.

Ethan wrapped an arm around Smeargle's waist and carried him along as he retreated back to where Ursaring was standing at the ready. Rock cracked. The ground shuddered. Steelix tore itself free from its rocky tomb, causing small fragments left behind to pelt off its thick metallic coat as it rose to its full height, climbing out of the tunnel underneath. Ethan's neck tilted back… and back… Steelix were either a lot bigger than he had assumed, or this one was in a league of its own.

It's long body coiled and tensed as it scanned them standing on the opposite side of the, now feeling much smaller, cavern. Steelix had to be at least thirty meters long… Which was frankly absurd. Its third and fifth body segments twisted and twirled, causing the steel spikes jutting out to spin ominously. Smeargle's dim light reflecting off the moving pieces with an eerie glow. It stared at them with a mix of anger and trepidation, as if waiting for another shoe to drop. Ethan took that chance to speak.

He held up his hands in a placating gesture.

"You're alright now. We're not going to hurt you if you don't try to hurt us." It was then that Ethan noticed that Steelix wasn't looking at them. It was looking at Ursaring. As if an unasked question had been spoken, Ursaring sauntered forward with swagger as Steelix reared back and opened its maw in warning. Normally, Ethan would say something against his mama bear taking action that seemed very risky, but… He was scared—He was afraid of what could/would happen. Fear doesn't always look like panic.

Fear often looks like silence. It's the moment you almost speak up, then swallow the words, convincing yourself that it's safer to wait, to say nothing, to let the moment pass… Decisions slip by not because you chose against them, but because you never chose to begin with. In that quiet hesitation, fear wins—not by force, but by convincing you that your voice was never needed in the first place. You often don't even realize you didn't make a choice at all, as it happens too quickly.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. This was one of those times. Like feeling the calm before the storm, Ethan's heartbeat thudded thunderously in his chest. The hairs on his arms and neck rose in a ripple of goosebumps. In what felt like slow motion, he scanned Smeargle stepping in front of him as a surge of purple and black void took the place of the dim orange flame, sending the room into a violet and violent landscape of battle.

The clash of Ursaring and Steelix was immediate and immense. There was no foreplay or testing of mettle. Ethan dropped to the ground as the floor beneath them shuddered from the lightning fast tail swipe Steelix aimed to bisect Uraring. In the shade of purple lighting the room from the still forming Dark Void, Ursaring's violet Hyper Beam was swift and merciless. The sheer power of the move caused Ethan to tumble backwards a foot, even with Smeargle having taken half the shockwave for him.

The sudden surge of the backblast felt like a horse kicking him in the chest, taking out all of his breath. Now was the time when fear turned its side. Silence into pure panic. Never in his life had he been in more immediate danger, and he didn't know how to deal with it. One stray move or even being in proximity to the calamitous clash of power before him would kill him—of that, there was no doubt in his mind. The only thing his mind latched onto was his pokemon. His pokemon would save him.

In what felt like a fugue state, Ethan tossed out every single pokeball on his waist in an ungraceful bout of adrenaline fueled panic. He couldn't even watch the battle ensuing before him in the darkness of the cave, only catching glimpses of bright colorful moves and feeling the blowback of them landing. Snorlax appeared with a roar of fury, surging forward with a speed unfit for a pokemon his size.

Ethan watched his back, which appeared larger than before, as he ran forward into darkness and into the battle he wasn't ready for. Chatot flew to his side, knowing that she would be of no help in such a close encounter. She trilled her name, but it sounded murky either from his warring emotions or damage to his ears—he wasn't sure. Gloom wasted no time in brightening up their world.

A tell-tale orange ball of light zoomed through the air like a signal flare, lighting up the room bit by bit as it soared towards the ceiling, where it hung about like an artificial sun. The bright light blew back the darkness and showed the entirety of the battle for all to see. Rock and stone jutted from the earth in jagged pillars of bladed devastation and pain. Steelix twisted and whipped its tail forward to crush and pulverize them into naught but dust and pebble in less than a second.

Snorlax Body Slammed the giant snake's side to little effect, causing yet another Iron Tail to be sent his way. Before it could connect, Ursaring intercepted the blow as her body shone with a hexagonal shell of blue power—Protect, one of the most important moves Ethan knew of. One of the moves he hadn't taught any of his pokemon. A barrage of seeds pelted the writhing steel snake from both sides, pinging off its metallic hide with little to no effect.

The seeds from the left side, from Gloom's side, sprouted and grew with unbridled life, reaching out with thin tendrils to latch onto the massive metal pokemon. Leech Seed. From the right, Pachirisu's slower seeds plunk off and then exploded, denting the already worn metallic plates of the steel snake. Seed Bomb was one of the first moves he'd ever taught Pachirsu—or any pokemon—over a year ago when he was lost.

Next, Pachirisu spun and flicked his tail into the suddenly muddy rock, sending forth Mud-Slap to coat Steelix's side. When Ethan turned to look away from the mud coated side of the Steelix, who had just gotten its jaw rocked by a Stone Edge straight from the ground like a massive uppercut from the Earth, Pachirisu was gone. A small hole was left in his wake. Whipping his head toward Gloom, and he saw the same thing. Gloom had also gone underground." GET ABOVE GROUND NOW!"

Ethan screamed before he could even register his thoughts. The one major weakness of Dig was that moves like Earthquake and Magnitude would deal double damage to them while underground. He wasn't sure if it would work the same way in real life, but being underground while the ground itself shifted and quaked? It didn't sound like a good time for anyone involved. Almost as if sensing his panic and thoughts, the reeling Steelix slammed its body into the ground, causing yet another terrible Earthquake.

The entire cave shook and rattled, more rocks fell from high above, crashing into anyone and anything. Thankfully, the rocks were much smaller now that the already larger ones had been dislodged previously. Smeargle's Dark Void missed entirely due to the unstable footing sent his way as he finished his attack. His painter had never had to use Dark Void in real combat before, and as it was a move powerful enough to be the signature of a legendary? It wasn't something he could throw out quickly.

It took time and preparation. Gloom tumbled out of the wall on the left, groaning and falling unconscious. Ethan recalled him before he crashed onto the floor…" Pachi!!!" Pachirisu was high in the air, body hidden by the bright backdrop of Sunny Day behind him as he fell. He fell towards the reeling steel snake and opened his mouth, showcasing his pearly white buck-teeth. With a chomp that would normally chip a tooth, Pachirisu sent Steelix tumbling back—half of its remaining energy gone due to Super Fang.

Ursaring's sprinting body tore through Steelix as it landed. Ethan wasn't familiar with the move she used, but it was a devastating charge that rag-dolled the steel snake into unconsciousness. From the side, Ethan caught Snorlax giving her a Helping Hand. The room quieted as the din of battle ended—sudden and vicious. The adrenaline faded as Ethan collapsed onto his butt and cried.