Battle in the Caves

Cries echoed throughout the narrow, winding passage of stone, its freezing temperature chilling Gunne to his bones.

'I just want to find some human civilization for crying aloud!' he thought, balling his palms into fists in anxiety, as he continued closely behind Zubat.

For now, they managed to evade the swarm of bats pursuing them. Gunne felt thankful that he ran into Zubat alone! Who knows what would have happened to him and Riolu otherwise!

Even so, Gunne felt deeply concerned.

Where were they going?

"Zubat... do you honestly know where we're going?"

"Zuu!" Zubat cried out as if to say: just trust me!

Gunne considered sending Riolu out once again, but ultimately refrained from doing so. After all, a swarm of bats could appear at any time, endangering Riolu!

Rumble!

Heavy thumps rang out within the cave and chunks of rock cracked off from the ceiling, falling to the ground with loud bangs.

Gunne held his breath as a cloud of dust spread throughout the cave amidst the continuous rumbling. The damp smell of must was no longer on his mind as he worried about the tiny sharp fragments of stone and ore concealed inside the dust.

The duo picked up the pace with light steps, treading the cave with utmost fluidity in a fear that the tiny tunnel was on the brink of collapsing in on itself.

Even if it wasn't going to collapse, they had no interest in meeting the pokémon behind this attempted cave-in!

Under Zubat's guidance, Gunne stepped into a tiny hole, screaming out as he found himself falling straight down!

"!!!!" Gunne's mouth opened wide, but no words came out; his glistening eyes revealed all of his fright.

Thunk! Crack!

Gunne landed with a heavy thud, instantly feeling a splitting pain travel up his feet, ankles, and knees.

He fell for about ten feet, but the hard ground didn't make for a good landing, causing several fractions throughout his legs.

But just as the pain hit his nerves, so did a soothing sensation. As a ditto, his cells were quickly reconstructed, and his injured leg was now good as new.

After letting out a breath of relief, he got up from the ground, stunned by a massive pokémon staring down at him. The massive pokémon was formed from rock, its body numerous boulders chained together.

[Entry #095]

• Onix • Type: Rock/Ground • Bio: Onix bores through the ground at 50 mph with its massive, rugged body, absorbing many hard objects along the way. The thunderous roar of its tunneling echoes a long way.

Gunne's mouth twitched and he shot Zubat a look; it was crying out in fear.

'Guess we should run—'

Onix's large tail shot forward, sweeping horizontally and flinging Gunne back into a wall.

"ACK!" Gunne coughed out as he collided with the wall, coughing blood from his mouth as he gripped his back in pain.

His back felt warm... very warm... And in his shock he felt a stick, red substance—he was bleeding profusely!

Zubat flew over, crying out in worry.

At a visible rate, his flesh and skin mended itself. Even so, this onix could potentially bring about his demise if he continued on carelessly.

He commanded solemnly, pulling out the cherish ball as a beam of light sent out Riolu, "Riolu, Zubat. We have to beat this onix, or we might all die!"

"Zu!" "Rio!"

The opposing onix was still giving them a deathly glare, a playful smile forming on its lips as it wished for nothing more than to torment them, showing them just how weak they were against its sturdy body.

Straightening his cap, he yelled out, "Alright! Let's do this! Zubat, use astonish! Riolu, follow it up!"

As he ordered, Gunne used one of his own moves, helping hand, boosting both his companion's attack power.

Zubat flew towards the onix, issuing a piercing scream in its face as it used astonish, hoping to make it flinch under its glass-shattering screech.

With a low growl, onix flung its tail towards Zubat, smacking it into the wall with its heavy power. Zubat's glass-shattering screech was not enough for the solid-stone onix.

"Riolu! Quick!"

Gunne shouted as he charged towards the onix, two additional figures of himself appearing alongside him as he used double team.

With his limited abilities, he had no hope of defeating the onix. At the very least, he was hoping to give Zubat enough time to recover.

Riolu's small figure appeared by his side, his eyes burning in anger after seeing Zubat's wounds!

'Helping hand!' Gunne waved his hand to Riolu, giving him another boost of energy.

Rumble!

Onix started off in their direction, moving with exceptional speed as it shot towards Riolu head first.

Eyes flashing, Gunne quickly came up with the most efficient plan. They needed to take onix down before they ran out of energy!

"Riolu, I'll get its attention! Use this opportunity to take it down!"

Riolu growled in agreement, and Gunne flashed in front of the onix alongside his two copies. Onix growled, bashing its head into one which vanished into thin air, then making a sharp turn as it tore through another!

Caught in the middle, Gunne slid onto the ground beneath its massive body and just barely managed to escape from its entwining body, leaving a substitute behind to buy some extra time.

Onix immediately binded around the substitute, destroying it within a second. It cried out in anger, seeing it had been tricked three times in a row.

'The distraction worked!'

Clenching his fists, he watched as Riolu sprung up from behind the onix, sending a heavy kick onto the back of its massive head.

"RIO!"

Riolu cried out in agony, falling onto the ground as it rolled back and forth, grabbing at its foot in pain.

The onix shot its focus down onto Riolu, smiling mockingly.

The kick had managed to break off a bit of stone armor around his head, but this increased onix's speed thanks to its ability—Weak Armor.

With an even stronger vigor, it lunged forward to grind Riolu's body into a pulp when a distinct screech echoed out!

"SKKRR!"

It was Zubat, screeching out even louder than previously! And this wasn't the move astonish; it was supersonic!

Onix was rooted on the spot, the piercing screech resounding within its brain putting it into a state of confusion.

Seeing its absentminded expression, Gunne shouted out, "Riolu!"

"Grrr!"

Riolu growled as it stood up, leaping into the air as it shot its foot straight down at the same area it hit earlier. There, the stone was already damaged and another hit was guaranteed to take this beast of stone down!

BANG! RUMBLE—! RUMBLE—!

Crying softly, onix collapsed onto the ground as the surrounding rocks crumbled off from the ceiling and walls, burying it beneath the rubble in an avalanche of stone.

The rest of the cave shook loudly, Gunne urging his partners to hurry out of there.

With Zubat taking the lead, it issued out light screeches that bounced off of the walls, its use of infrasound finding a small path carved out by various pokémon.

Gunne heaved a sigh of relief. It appeared this path led upwards; hopefully they could return to the surface and find some people while they were at it!