Chapter 27
Exiting the tunnel, the trio was greeted by the same sight that our duo faced countless hours prior. They stood there and basked at the unbelievable sight that laid before their eyes. Jax and Vioarr were too young and inexperienced to notice to oddity of this place but these seasoned veterans knew otherwise. The Great Beyond was thought to be a dead zone where nothing grew. The animals that thrived here did so by killing and eating other pokemon and drinking their foe's blood; that's why they were so much more dangerous than the pokemon who lived in the other areas surrounding Arklight City. So, imagine the surprise on the three's faces when the impossible just appeared before them. Lush, green vegetation grew in abundance and there was even a dazzling, blue lake in the middle of this cave that was at the periphery edges of the Great Beyond.
"Wow! I can't believe my eyes! I thought nothing grew in the Great Beyond! This completely destroys any preconceived notions about the barren land to the west!" Lost in the moment, Doria briefly forgot about why she even came here in the first place. That was just how surprising this situation was. Awoken from her stupor, Doria noticed that there was no sight of her son and Vioarr anywhere.
You might be wondering why Doria seemed so confused by all these sights like it was her first time being here. Do remember that the last time she was here, she was only 5 years old out to find her very first pokemon. Back then, exhausted from being chased by Absols and focusing all of her attention to the young boy who rescued her, she had no mind to pay attention to anything else. Aside form that, A lot changed in the past 31 years! You go back and visit your hometown. I bet there would be very little that was as you remembered it.
Finally noticing another tunnel at the opposite end of the cave, the trio set off in that direction as there was nowhere else to go not knowing about the other tunnel as it was still hidden by the dense, overgrown bushes. After walking half-way across the expansive cave, the trio immediately split off in different directions. Good thing, too, because not a second later, a white, grey beam hit the exact spot there were at just seconds ago. Turning to face whoever just fired at them, the three were met with ten sets of eyes glaring back at them. Two blue tanks who had murderous written all over them and three floating missiles that also looked like they meant business.
"What the heck! Why did they attack us so suddenly!? Hey! Yeah, you! Don't you know any manners!? Who attacks someone first without issuing a challenge!" Again, Doria loses all of her rationality when it comes to anything to do with her son. Noticing that the trail left behind from that attack just now matched the same ones that blasted a hole through those poor trees in the forest, Doria was absolutely livid. 'It was them who were chasing my precious baby boy! I'll kill them all! Watch as I make a new car out of their bodies and force their children to pull their parents' bodies-now-turned-car!'
"Arcanine, stack up your Agility and then use Flamethrower! Nidoking, I don't know your moves so do whatever!"
Nidoking looked at this seemingly weak woman who was trying to boss him around like he was her pokemon. Shaking his head, Nidoking prepared his maxed-out Earth Power. Even as a wild pokemon, Nidoking thought like the rest of the world did, that it was better off as a special attacker than a physical one. Even if that wasn't the case, it still wouldn't have used its Earthquake since friendlies will also be caught in the aftereffects.
With two moves that were super effective against them, the two Metagrosses decided to retreat. Applying stacks of their own Agility, they also casted Scary Face on the trio so the speed difference became alarming distant. Sadly, Arcanine acted first earlier and was able to fire off its Flamethrower at the family of six! Although the two Metagrosses were still holding on fine, the same couldn't be said about the three Beldums. Each one dropped from the sky with a heavy thud burnt black from the maxed-out Flamethrower. Since there was such a big level difference between these Beldums and Arcanine, they had no time to react and was immediately sent off to meet Arceus.
Enraged about losing all their children in one day, the two Metagrosses made a vow; if earlier wasn't a blood feud, now, it definitely was! No longer trying to retreat, both mother and father fortress prepared their strongest move. Charging up their Hyper Beams, just as they were about to unleash their deadly move, cracks blazed across the floor like snakes racing after mice towards them both!
Nidoking might have been interrupted earlier by their Scary Face but since it wasn't a damage dealing move, his Earth Power wasn't canceled. After finishing charging up the powerful move, Nidoking unleashed it before the two could complete their Hyper Beams. Arcanine wasn't just sitting back either. Running up to the duo, Arcanine used Flare Blitz which was maxed-out so it did a whopping total of 240 damage. Because Metagross is a steel-type pokemon, it did even more damage!
When the two attacks hit the only remaining members of the family of eight, a huge dust cloud popped up blocking everyone's vision. Waving her arms, Doria wanted to see the state in which the two pokemon who were hell bent on chasing her son was like. Once the dust settle back down, Doria could finally see for herself that her enemies were no more. It was sad that a whole family was ended in one day but when it comes to her son, she didn't even bat a single eye.
With a humph, Doria walked towards to carcass of the defeated pokemon and claimed her right as the victor. Harvesting any useful parts from the Beldums and Metagrosses, she stored them away inside her bag. As stated previously, pokemon could increase their grade by consuming certain items and stronger pokemon. The Beldums were a little useless since they didn't seem very high leveled, but the two parents were a separate story. Their body parts would sell for a fortune at any store or auction and because they lived exclusively in the Great Beyond, they would sell for even more compared to other steel-types of their level.
After finishing with the processing of her trophies, the trio walked towards the tunnel that they originally planned to go through. 'Please, please be safe! Mommy promises she won't tear you apart. Maybe just a little. But you need to be fine for mommy to do that!' Praying to no one in particular, the trio were about to stepped into the tunnel only to find it completely blocked!?