I found myself standing to the side of the hallway, leaning against the fortified walls of the underground as I held a cardboard crate of various minerals and fossils. I had only strolled a few minutes away from the stalagmite cavern, but I hadn't found anybody really. I didn't even have those fancy radars, so I couldn't even find any gem pockets.
I took off my shades, as they were being a little too annoying in the darkness of the tunnels. Sure some parts were lit up, but there were areas where the lights had gone out, which required every bit of visibility I could muster. The bionic eye worked wonders, but it was dampened by the shades. Luckily I could turn off the bionic glow all while still using the night vision feature. Now it just looked like I had heterochromia, albeit one of the eyes looking slightly fake.
Sighing, I pushed myself from the wall and walked down the winding tunnels. I knew Aura was following me, but she was so silent that I couldn't hear her. She was able to float above the ground after all. I couldn't help but feel anxious and nervous. It was too quiet, besides my footsteps echoing through the chamber, there was the ever distant sound of reverberations of pickaxes and drills from above.
"Hey son, you lost? Your garb tells me that you're not the mining sort of guy." A voice said to my left.
I turned my head to the voice, where a stout and portly man wearing a straw hat, a ranger's khaki vest of sorts over green flannel shirt, and khaki pants fitted with some hiking boots. He was carrying a large backpack, probably full of gemstones and minerals. His belt told tales of his experience, which was burdened down by a worn out pickaxe, hammer, chisel, and some rope coils.
He grinned, showing his bright white teeth as he stroked his brown mustache. "Well if my eyes deceive me, you don't seem too attuned to the underground, yet I see you already found a good decent amount of fossils and spheres! Though you seem a little underequipped. How did you manage to get down here anyways?"
I paused, trying to think of a good story on the spot. Luckily, after years of scooting around responsibilities so I could do what I wanted, on the dot storytelling was easy.
"Oh, I followed my friend in here, but we got separated. I did go mining for a bit, and found a good load," I said, pointing to the cardboard box full of glittering gems and intricate fossils, "But I may have misplaced my equipment in my fervor, and now I can't find my friend nor my tools."
"That certainly is a pickle. Maybe I could help you out with your predicament." the miner said. "The name's Walt. What's yours?" He extended his hand for a handshake.
I extended my own hand, but stopped a little before taking it. Should I lie about my name? My origins? It took a little back and forth, before I decided to shake his hand, and stick with the truth.
"The name's Nexus. And yes, I could use some help, but I was also hoping to do some trading now that I'm down here." I lightly shook the box of precious stones and minerals.
He chuckled. "Well well, I do see many shards, and even some fossils and evolution stones! Though considering you're a first time miner, you may not know that we mainly trade spheres."
"That I do know." I said. "But, I was hoping I could trade some of these for other things, like pokeballs, and regular currency."
"Wait. Pokeballs?" Walt asked, his eyebrow furrowing quizzically. "Do you... not have pokeballs?"
"Nope," I said rather blankly. "In fact, I don't even have any Pokémon."
Walt looked aghast, his eyes practically jumping out in shock. "Good heavens boy!" He exclaimed. Quickly, he reached into his pocket, pulling out a pokeball and pushing it into my hand. "I have no idea how you managed to get down here without any Pokémon, nor how you were able to remain unharmed down here. The underground can be very dangerous, and is almost insane to go down here without one. My Machop helps me with defense and mining."
He detached a pokeball from his belt, expanding it from the size of a walnut to a softball, and pressed the button. Out released a stream of blue energy that materialized into a teal colored figure, resembling a small child.
"Machop chop." It said resolutely.
"As said," Walt continued, "You really need to find yourself a Pokémon. I suggest you head to the surface immediately, where you can more easily sell your findings to a local Pokémon mart. The price you'll sell it for won't be as much as you'd make selling it as a vendor, but seeing your lack of equipment, it's a good place to start."
"Ah, thanks." I said. I looked around. There really wasn't any easy way to leave was there?
"Uh... How exactly do I leave the underground?" I asked.
"Ah, Don't worry Nexus," Walt said, gesturing his hand for me to follow. "I'll lead you out. It so happens that this place is relatively near the Oreburgh Mine, which can lead you to the surface."
"The Oreburgh Mine?" I said. "Is that something to do with Oreburgh City? To be honest, I've never really visited there before."
Walt's eyes beamed a little, and he gave me a toothy grin. "Oh you'll love Oreburgh City! There's lots of destinations, like the Oreburgh Mine and the fossil museum. Especially the mine. Has lots of Pokémon for trainers to battle, and is the source of most of Oreburgh City's coal supply. You should really explore the rest of the city, it's pretty scenic."
We winded the corner, as the underground never seemed to end. Walt's talking, however, made up for it, as well as being a great source of information I'd definitely need to use later.
"Oreburgh isn't all industry and mining." Walt continued, with a joyful saunter. "It's heart is in the mountains where the city's coal comes from, but around that, you have pretty calm and idyllic grassland, surrounded by calm forests. Perfect for finding a Pokémon."
As we rounded the corner, with the Machop bravely swinging his little teal arms with gusto in front of us, a large gaping tunnel was present at the end of the passageway. Machop, after seeing this, excitedly jumped up and down, pointing to the hole in the wall.
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"Ah, it looks like we're here." Walt stated merrily. "This is a tunnel that was torn through by some rock type Pokémon. It's clear of most debris, and its stable enough to be used as a shortcut. Even luckier, is that it leads straight to a section of the Oreburgh Mine. From there, you can ask the Oreburgh miners to give you a hand in leaving."
He began walking off, before something reminded him of something, as he turned back toward me to say something.
"Oh, I forgot to mention. Say hello to my son when you get to the top. He sticks out like a sore thumb, so he's really easy to spot."
"Your son?" I asked. "Who's your son, by the way?"
"Oh, sorry. Forgot that I didn't bring it up." He said, chuckling. "My son's name is Zircon."
My face made the expression of muted disbelief, before I dropped my head with an amused sigh. Of course Walt would do that.
"You named your son after a gemstone?"
"Ha!" Walt bellowed, his laughs echoing throughout the cavern. "Someone gets it! I know we've only met for a little while, but it's real nice to know someone interested in ore and gemstones too. You'll make a great fit in Oreburgh City. I've told other parents my son's name, and they just respond, 'That's nice.' and move on! It's nice to know someone who gets the meaning."
"So!" he continued. "Yes, my son is named after a gemstone. I think he quite likes his name, as it matches his hair style really well. He's a joyous kid, just turned 14, and is heading off to his Pokémon adventure. I was at first quite adamant on keeping him home to study geology and become more like his old man, but his expressed enthusiasm for a Pokémon adventure was incredible, so I simply had to let him go. Pokémon adventures are expensive you know. If you don't have a sponsor or a backing from a lab, it can be kind of hard to get anywhere."
He sighed. "I know it may sound harsh, but maybe it was a poor idea to allow him to watch television that much. He got most of his ideas from that Kanto upstart Ash Ketchum. It's impressive, but a continuous possibly months long journey? That's pretty nerve wracking for me as a parent, who'll be worrying about my son on his safety and living expenses! Sorry. I got a little winded. My boy has rust red hair. He'll be easy to spot."
So Ash Ketchum was canon? That was a good and a bad thing. Good, as in I'll be able to get a grip on the current timeline, and bad, as if the timing is wrong, I'll be in the middle of all his shenanigans. The Sinnoh region was the region I was most familiar with, which was a god send. I just had to worry about whether Ash was before or after Sinnoh.
"Oh... sorry to hear that. Well, I'll be going now. I hope I'll meet your son Zircon. Red rusty colored hair, like a real zircon gem? I'll try to look for him." I said, looking behind me as I began walking into the tunnel.
"Exactly!" he said. "Safe travels! Wish you luck on your research!"
"My what?" I asked, turning back towards him.
"Well, you're a researcher are you not?" he asked, pointing at my garb. "I mean, with your white lab coat and knowledge on minerals, you'd have to be a researcher from the museum right?"
I looked down at my clothing. It was true that my white duster did look like a lab coat, but the cargo pants, fingerless gloves, and baseball cap should have muted that thought on being a researcher. Unless myself from others perspective was different than what I thought it was.
"Oh... uh.. yes! Yes I am a researcher."
"Well I offer you safe passage. At first I was rather confused why a researcher was alone in the underground with no Pokémon, and wearing trainer's clothing, but you must have your reasons. Now for real, toodles!" And with that, he and his Machop scampered off down another path of the underground. I too, turned and walked down the tunnel toward the Oreburgh Mine.
It wasn't long before my footsteps along the hard rock began to compete with the noise and vibrations of the ever nearing sounds of drilling, pickaxes against rock, and heavy machinery. A faint bright light was illuminated in front of me, and clutching my cardboard box of gems, plates and fossils, I stepped out of the cavern... to more cavern. At least this cavern had people in them.
I began to walk towards one of the miners, who although was mid conversation, glanced toward me before doing a double take and running to me in a hasty manner. I instinctively stopped, because he nearly bowled into me.
"What are you doing here!" The miner said, slightly exasperated. "If the boss knew I let you in the underground without a guide, I'd be in deep trouble! Come on, let's get you out of here." He began both pushing and guiding me out of the mine, and even though I was even more confused than before, I didn't say a word. Was I supposed to be a distinguished individual?
After a few minutes of walking behind the miner, who made his point clear to the other miners up ahead why he was escorting a person like me, it was clear what he was doing. Apparently, there was supposed to be this renowned research scientist coming over to the Oreburgh Mining Museum. So great in fact the miners even got a talking to by their boss about it. And I was being mistaken for that scientist. I mean, how could I be mistaken for a scientist? The only resounding feature was that the duster I was wearing was perfectly clean and white.
After reaching the exit of the mine, and being promptly flash banged by the glaring sun, the miners hastily bowed, before letting me go. Even though I did want to marvel at the scenery, like the equipment and the workers, the attention revolving my supposed "status" was giving me an anxious aura. So I quickly climbed a set of stairs toward the main city center and immediately hid myself behind a building away from others sight. I needed to take off the duster.
After popping out the buttons and shimmying my way out of the white coat, I grabbed the coat arm sleeves and tied it around my waist. Now, I looked like a simple trainer. Just to make sure I wouldn't get recognized, I flipped my hat backwards. Yes it did reveal parts of my white hair, but I could just say I dyed it.
"Are you ready to use that pokeball on me?" a low but calm voice said behind me. I almost jumped.
"Oh sweet Jesús." I breathed, realizing who it was. "I forgot you were tailing me." The Aura, who's part of their face was visible, faced towards me like a floating head. The rest of its body was being covered by the light bending invisibility cloak.
"Not yet though. I still have to sell these gems and minerals, and I'm tired of lugging all these around. Though when I do get you into the pokeball, I'm pretty sure I still have to register you into a Pokémon center, and I doubt they'd allow an undiscovered "Pokémon" into their registration without some unwanted attention, so that's not happening."
The Aura nodded before covering the rest of their face with the sheet, making their entirety disappear. I picked up the box with a huff, and headed to the nearest Pokémon mart. It didn't take me long to find one.
I headed into it's big blue doors, as they quickly opened as I walked towards it. It was nice and cool inside, as I glanced at shelves lined up with loads of goods. Potions, Pokémon food, minerals, tons of types of pokeballs, as well as a shit ton of Oreburgh memorabilia. It reminded me of a classic 7/11 or Walmart, except with the inventory of a PetSmart. There was also ready made meals and other food and such, so it still catered to the trainer audience.
I walked towards the front desk and set the box of gems and such on the table, where a tired but generally happy salesboy stood behind, wearing a blue shirt with both the sleeves rolled up and a white apron.
"I'd like to sell these items please." The cashier nodded and began taking items out of the box. After pulling broken shards and the occasional evolution stone, he pulled out a fossil, which made him pause.
"You shouldn't sell this," the cashier boy said, gesturing the fossil toward me with it in his hand. "Fossils are hard to come by, and Oreburgh prides itself in being the forefront of ancient Pokémon and rare gems and metals. I can buy the broken plates and evolution stones no problem, but the fossils, I implore you to keep. You can get some good Pokémon at the Mining Museum." He put the fossil back in the box, leaving all of the fossils behind, before pocketing the stones and the shattered plates. After checking the money, he places a stack of bills on the countertop.
"All yours." he said, as I hastily picked up the money and counted it. It amounted to about $6850. Damn those evolution stones made bank. I thanked the cashier, who nodded, as I carefully folded the money and put it in a pocket of my cargo pants, before walking out with a much emptier box with just a few fossils.
Finally, after walking down the city street, I found an alley along the buildings not bustling with loads of people, trainers and residents alike. I set the box down, looked around for any people, before giving the thumbs up. The aura uncloaked in a beautiful manner, waving the cloak behind them as if it were a cape. Just as quickly, they folded the cloak into a neat square, before handing to me, which I took.
"You still look stellar, no questions asked." I said, pulling out the red and white pokeball Walt had given me earlier. "I think you have to touch the center button to be sucked into it. I think it acts like a storage system, where it turns your into energy so you can be saved."
The Aura nodded, and touched the center button of the pokeball with her polymer finger, where a red energy spewed out, enveloping her, before her whole form turned into a swirling mass of red energy and was swallowed by the ball. The pokeball closed, shook a few times, before clicking resolutely. I sighed a sigh of relief, as I released them back out, where they materialized again.
"So how was it?" I asked the Aura, who was checking out themselves for anomalies after having the privilege of being turned into energy.
"It was adequate. It was as if you got your own living space back in the city. In fact, it looked too much like the city."
"Hmm..." I said, holding my chin and lip in my hand. "It's like taking what you think as a good home and changing the inside to fit that. Anyways, can you teleport back to our base?"
"Of course. The calibrations may take a little longer, but I can do it."
As she stood there, I picked up the box, preparing myself to be teleported. I had to steel myself to be teleported, as the out of body experience from last time made me feel a little too--
"Hey you! I found you!" A young voice shouted behind me, and the only thing I could do is turn my head towards it, face wracked with horror and fear.
It was a young boy wearing an open bomber jacket, with shorts and red and brown sneakers. His hair was a massive pointer to who he was, with his red rust origami like ribbon valley fold hair.
Zircon. God damn it.