Chapter 24: Massive Mass Outbreak

Author Note: Sorry for the late release. Was up for 48 hours and needed me a nap

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The duo traveled for several hours toward Sunyshore City but the closer they got, the more that they had to deal with Wild Pokemon. It was as if something was driving the Wild Pokemon in the area berserk. 

And it was not just the duo that were facing this issue. Countless trainers were having this issue and many of them and their Pokemon even lost their lives against these Pokemon. After dealing with a pack of wild Pichu and Pikachu, Xander and Cynthia decided to take a break at the top of a hill so they could see any approaching Pokemon. 

"What the hell is going on?" Xander asked, not expecting Cynthia to have a real answer. 

"No idea but something must be going on. There's no reason for so many Pokemon to be acting up like this. They are moving about like crazy," Cynthia was also puzzled. 

Most Pokemon had their territory where they lived and usually only attacked people who entered their territory. But Xander and Cynthia were traveling on the sanctioned path that the Pokemon League created. Coming across the random Wild Pokemon would not be surprising but they had battled at least 30 Pokemon over the past few hours. It was obvious that something was off but the duo couldn't tell exactly what it was. 

"If only we had Pokemon that could fly, we could quickly move past all of these Wild Pokemon," Xander lamented the fact that their aces still hadn't reached their final stages where the duo could ride them through the air. 

"What do you think we should do?" Cynthia asked Xander, not sure how they should proceed. They were in a very dangerous situation with their Pokemon having accumulated injuries from the various battles. Even though they had given them all potions, potions could only heal so much unlike the games. 

The only way for their Pokemon to recover to their full strength was by giving them time to rest or bringing them to a Pokemon Center. 

"The smart thing to do would be to hunker down and wait for the League to send out some Rangers. We are currently in a great position where we can't be ambushed unless the Pokemon can fly," Xander explained his logic on why they should stay on the cliff and simply wait

"And the more fun thing to do would be to go out and see if we can solve this before the Rangers arrive," Cynthia finished his thought with a smirk, eager to go out and see what was causing the disturbance

"If we do that, we need to be smart. As smart as we can be for doing something like this. We'll need to let our Pokemon rest for at least an hour and only use Lucario, C.C., and Tamamo. We'll save Gabby, Mothra, and Fenris to deal with the bigger problems," Xander already came up with a plan. Lucario and Tamamo were the fastest of the bunch besides Gabby but she was Cynthia's ace so Xander wanted to save her strength for more dangerous Pokemon or the source of the problem. C.C. was small enough for Xander to carry her without trouble so he didn't mind having her out.

As for Mothra and Fenris, the former needed to be saved in case they needed its strength while the latter was simply too slow to move around with the group as they adventured. Fenris was also weaker than Gabby, Lucario, and Tamamo because its second stage had too many faults besides its defense. 

"Sounds good with me," Cynthia sat down and began to take deep breaths, practicing spreading out her aura to sense if any Pokemon were approaching. 

Xander sat down next to her before pulling Mothra out of his Pokeball. 

"Pay attention, Mothra. We are gonna rest so you are on guard duty," Xander told the larva, making sure to emphasize how important its task was. 

'Got it,' Larvesta responded. Xander nodded, figuring out what Mothra was saying based on their experience with one another. His psychic powers weren't strong enough for him to understand all of his Pokemon, just C.C. and Tamamo since they had psychic powers and more powerful minds than the other Pokemon. 

The pair of young trainers sat there for an hour, letting their minds and body get as much rest as they could. When the hour was up, the duo stood up before pulling out their Pokeballs. 

"C.C., Tamamo. Let's go!" Xander called out his Pokemon

"Come on, Lucario," Cynthia called out the aura Pokemon before her. 

With their Pokemon out, Xander recalled Mothra before picking up C.C. and heading down the hill with Cynthia and their two Pokemon following close behind. 

They noticed that the Pokemon were mostly coming from the south so the group began to head in that direction. The duo were careful in how they traveled. 

Most of the Grand Underground was a large open cavern consisting of mostly dirt or grass on the ground and small caves but some areas were considered to be special caverns and caves, called hideways. These could range from underground magma pools to deserts to even frozen tundras. There were even special hideaways that were filled with crystals that seemed to attract Psychic, Ghost, and Fairy Pokemon.

Each hideaway was ruled by a powerful Pokemon that existed at the top of the food chain. They would be considered local tyrants but they would also stop other Pokemon from acting out or invasive species from disturbing the natural balance.

Xander and Cynthia were heading to one of the smaller caverns, known as a Swampy Cave. These locations mainly contained Water, Grass, and Poison Pokemon. 

Before the pair even entered the cave, they could hear the angry and painful roars of two Pokemon from a distance. Xander and Cynthia instantly stopped when they heard this, not moving forward.

"Those two must be the cause of it," Cynthia concluded as they ducked behind a tree.

Xander nodded and leaned over, trying to get a better view of what was going on. He saw a purple and blue Pokemon, roaring and releasing several powerful Poison and Ground attacks in every direction.

"It looks a Nidoking and Nidoqueen. This is even worse than I thought," Xander whispered as he hid behind the tree once again. Nidoking and Nidoqueen were already considered powerful Pokemon on their own but their true strength came out when they worked with one another. 

What was worse was that both of them were raging. Usually, only Nidoking would get excessively aggressive but his mate would calm him down when he got out of control. Nidoqueens would only act like this when their young were in danger. 

"Something must have happened to their kids," Cynthia came up with the same conclusion that Xander made in his mind. "Most likely a Poacher got to them."

"Probably. Can Lucario try to search for it with its Aura?" Xander asked, knowing he had the best chance at finding those young Pokemon. 

"Lucario. Can you find anyone near us? Look for close humans or smaller Pokemon that resemble those two," Cynthia requested Lucario

'I'll try,' Lucario nodded before its body was covered in a blue aura and the 4 appendages on the back of its head began to float. He stayed in that state for nearly a minute before Lucario opened his eyes and pointed in a certain direction. 

"Perfect. Let's go!"