Chapter 8

Tikam was careful not to kill the Graveler as she smashed the exterior of its body to pieces. The inside of a Graveler’s body was mostly soil while the outer portion was made of tightly knit stones that were sent flying in all directions upon using one Arm Thrust. While as a Makuhita it usually took two or three Arm Thrusts to knock out a Graveler while one was enough. Now that Tikam was a Hariyama she felt the urge to keep slamming her open palms into her opponents in succession.

“We keep Pokemon casualties to a minimum,” the Hariyama stated before entering Rusturf Tunnel. “They have no choice but to follow human orders.”

Her body had more than doubled in length and her weight tripled. Tikam’s hips were even wider across than a grown human’s while she had practically no real legs. A Hariyama’s blue legs were too bulky to be called such a thing and her feet were almost as gargantuan as her hands. Her arms were comparatively thin and mobile. A yellow skirt was fitted around Tikam’s waist after evolving. Despite these things she was surprisingly faster as a Makuhita but that was still unimpressive as their species was not known for its speed.

However, in addition to her incredible boost in strength was the amount of durability she had. While Tikam was able to take quite a few attacks as Makuhita it felt like everything bounced off her as a Hariyama. After she led Emerald and the rest of his Pokemon into Rusturf Tunnel, Tikam was at the front of the charge due to her ability to wall any attack. After returning his Graveler to her Pokeball, he ordered his other Pokemon to attack.

“Flamethrower!” the gym trainer yelled.

His Magcargo fired a blast of intense flames at Tikam’s chest only for them to do literally nothing. She wasn’t so much as singed by the Fire attack. She barely even felt warmed by the attack.

“And the trainers?” Leif asked curiously before entering Rusturf Tunnel.

The Hariyama jumped forward with surprising agility for her size to give the Magcargo’s shell a light slap. The stone shell on its back cracked upon impact as it was thrown across the cave. The brittle, spiral shell began leaking magma through the dents in the Fire and Rock-type’s shell. The Rustboro Gym trainer immediately returned the Magcargo to his Pokeball. He turned to run before Tikam slammed her open palm into him. After his body exploded like a bag of red liquid she turned to see how her comrades were doing.

“Show no mercy,” she said. “Nothing but murderers who enslave every species but their own.”

Like her, Madelyn and Leif had the type advantage against the majority of what they came across. Madelyn, who was now so tall her head scraped the ceiling of the cave, spewed cascades of water at her opponents. Anything that was a Rock, Ground or Fire-type was immediately torn apart by the volume of water launched at intense pressure.

The Hydro Pump usually even killed the trainers of the enemy Pokemon as the blast was forceful enough to rip to pieces anything standing behind its target. However, the Gyarados had to use her Water attack sparingly as the move consumed a large amount of liquid in her body that Madelyn couldn’t produce often. So when she couldn’t use her Hydro Pump she merely Thrashed about with her body or chewed anything to shreds with her jaws. While she didn’t have quite as much defensive ability as Takim, the Gyarados had such powerful attacks that Madelyn usually crushed anything in her wake before it could hurt her.

Takim didn’t like the fact that she was killing Pokemon along with their trainers but knew it couldn’t be helped. The Gyarados didn’t have the training to control her immense power like Takim did. Leif was someone that she more so admired.

“But killing is wrong!” Emerald said. “We can’t kill those humans!”

“It is the only way,” Leif said. “They deserve no sympathy.”

He obviously was careful to spare any Pokemon he came across. His Leaf Blade was more than enough to slice in half any Rock or Ground-type that appeared before him. However, he was careful to only slice through their tough exteriors to give them a chance to survive. After their trainers returned them to their Pokeballs, Leif would kill them before they could flee. Any time he wasn’t destroying the competition with Leaf Blade he was using Mega Drain to absorb nutrients from humans or Pokemon to replenish his wounds. After sapping nutrients from his opponents any tear the Grovyle had was instantaneously healed over.

The only one of them not putting in much work was Dangler. The Pineco was already at a three fold disadvantage: Bug was weak to Rock and Fire, he was still growing back his scales, and the Bug-type was slow when not using Rapid Spin. Rapid Spin was not a viable means of traveling as Dangler could only move in one direction in a short spurt before stopping.

This meant he had to stay close to Emerald who either carried him or placed him down on the ground. All Dangler could really do in this case was use Pin Missile since he couldn’t get close to a potentially super-effective Pokemon without being killed. He wasn’t so much useless as out of his element.

After defeating the Gym trainer’s Magcargo Takim looked around to survey how well they did. Of the six trainers that they faced upon entering Rusturf Tunnel, each one had their Pokemon defeated and themselves killed. Takim felt some guilt at killing humans as she wished to never take another life again but she knew it couldn’t be helped. Most of them had PokeNav’s so if any were allowed to live it would alert others to their location.

Once the battle was over, Emerald went around healing enemy Pokemon of their wounds with the spray medicine he bought. He even went so far as to free them from their Pokeballs and release them into the wild. The Hariyama saw him rubbing the back of a Sandslash that had been defeated by Leif, the cut in his side still healing.

“You guys try and fill in this cave with your Ground and Rock-type attacks, okay?” Emerald said.

“I’ll be careful to do so before I leave,” the Sandslash said as he leaned against the cave wall. He panted as the spray medicine caused the slice in his body to scab over. “Thank you...thank you so much for freeing us.”

“Do you want any more help?” an Aron asked as it tried to stand up. “We could fight for you.”

“Yeah,” Leif said. “That’d be-”

“No!” Takim shouted. “Roxanne is too powerful for Pokemon still recovering from battle to be healed! Your flesh wounds may be healed but you’re all tired from using your elemental powers! I can tell that we’re more experienced than the rest of you.”

The Hariyama hated yelling at the formerly enslaved Pokemon but it was all she could do to get their attention.

“Stay here and rest until we leave,” Emerald agreed. “Don’t involve yourself.”

Takim looked around to see what effect the Team Magma and Rustboro Gym collaboration had on the terrain. The tunnel was not carved out by machinery but by the elemental techniques of the Pokemon. Well trained Ground-types could use Earth Power to manipulate the terrain around them like it was clay in their hands. Rock-types could either pull out or even regrow the very stone of the cave around them. Even Fighting-types used their raw strength to dig through the tunnels on occasion. The Hariyma felt sick looking at this place knowing she aided in its construction.

The Whismur and Loudred that lived in the mountainous region were disturbed by the intense force occurring beneath them. Growing up in the mountains, Takim knew that Whismur and its evolution line absorbed unwanted sounds that could harm or disturb Pokemon. Noise pollution, humans called it. Most of these unwanted sounds came from human contraptions and actions when their civilizations were too close to wild Pokemon.

However, the noise occurring right beneath their feet was becoming too much for them. Not only did it frighten many Whismur away from the land but the remaining ones were not enough to absorb the huge increase in noise. The excessive sound they had to assimilate would literally pain them.

But what was worse was that Team Magma and Roxanne planned on digging many long tunnels through the mountain range. Rusturf Tunnel was only the first and this was destructive to the environment in many ways. Geodude and other Rock-types often embedded themselves in the rock themselves as they ate and replenished themselves by absorbing minerals and stone through their bodies.

It was a weird type of permeation they employed where they passively consumed these substances while in a sleep-like state. Not only was this disturbing their slumber by digging them out but the expansionist project also sought to mine minerals that were found in the cave. Team Magma planned on extracting these rock substances which would steal food from the Rock Pokemon that used them.

“It doesn’t seem there were many trainers in our way,” Emerald said. “Almost like most of them had left.”

“Yeah,” Takim said. “Team Magma and Roxanne lost a lot of members digging this tunnel. The wilds around here are pretty fierce and were intent on holding this mountain range. Not to mention that both Roxanne’s underlings and Magma also lost soldiers cutting a path through the forest on Route 116. Roxanne was supposed to finish the tunnel along with a couple handpicked subordinates.”

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“Now we have a chance to stop them,” Leif said. “Where is Roxanne?”

“She should be here,” Takim said. “At the end of the tunnel. That huge noise you hear...that’s her Pokemon.”

No one had to be that silent to hear the intense grinding sound booming from the end of the tunnel beyond them. It was so loud it literally vibrated the ground Takim stood on and walls of the cave around her. If one focused they could feel the ground attempt to lift them into the air as it quaked. All of them turned to face the noise beyond them and stared on with determination.

“I don’t think I’ll be doing much in this case,” Dangler said.

“Yeah,” Emerald admitted. “Better return you.”

He took the Bagworm Pokemon’s Pokeball from around his waist and returned Dangler before the human raced forward. The four of them headed through the cave, the only light source the ceiling bulbs placed above them. When they arrived at the end of the tunnel, Takim found a familiar sight.

Dead Geodude littered the ground, their bodies scraped and broken. Standing in front of four Rock Pokemon was a brunette woman in a blue shirt and dress with a red ribbon in her hair. She turned to face the four of them. Behind Roxanne the Gym leader’s four Pokemon touched the cave walls to subtly and gently remove unwanted mountain stone around them. Mostly it was the four merely removing unwanted rock matter, digging Geodude out in the process.

“Trespassers I see,” she said. “I heard some commotion down there but didn’t think too much of it. Guess I was wrong not to handle it myself.”

“You’ll pay for what you’ve done to wild Pokemon here,” Takim said. “I may have helped you in your quest of expansion but it ends here.”

“And who are you exactly?” Roxanne asked. “Wait, don’t tell me...the Makuhita that one high ranking grunt gave up? Apparently you grew a conscience or something.”

She then surveyed those behind her before taking special interest in their human trainer.

“Emerald?!” she yelled. “What are you doing with these rogues?”

“I’m helping the wild Pokemon here free themselves of your tyranny,” he answered. “I’d tell you to leave this place and we’d let you live but that can’t happen now.”

She leered at him before chuckling to herself.

“I’ve heard rumors of some other family Norman kept secret,” Roxanne laughed. “Thought it was just tabloid gossip but it seems to be true. All of Hoenn’s buzzing about it.”

The Hariyama turned to see Emerald was visibly flustered. He was having trouble looking Roxanne in her eyes. While obviously nervous, if Takim was perceiving it correctly, he was trying to hold in pride.

“You’re kind of the new celebrity around the region,” Roxanne said with a smile. “Isn’t it enticing? Beaten your sister, Ruby and become the talk of the town? How about you come under my tutelage and become a great trainer? Maybe even make your old man proud.”

“No thanks!” he finally yelled. “Quit changing the subject! Surrender now and we’ll spare your Pokemon!”

This finally got her Pokemon to stop digging further and turn around. Emerald took the opportunity to identify them with his PokeDex. Takim, who was next to her trainer, took the time to read the Dex entries as she was not intimately familiar with Roxanne’s Pokemon.

Her strongest one was Golem, the final evolution of Geodude. It was basically a large ball of brownish-green stone plates with clawed legs, arms awkwardly protruding from its spherical body and arrow-shaped head. All that Takim remembered about it was that Golem had one of the highest defense stats of any Pokemon in existence. It would definitely be trouble.

He identified the next with his PokeDex to be Lairon. It was the evolved form Aron, a quadrupedal Rock and Steel-type. It looked perpetually angry with its fierce appearance as it was armored with silvery metal.

The next two were apparently extinct species of Pokemon. Both were bipedal and had blade-like claws rather than arms. The first was covered in brown stone and had spikes running down its back along with a triangular head. It was called Kabutops, a half Water-type Pokemon.

The other was blue and looked somewhat like a Bug-type at first sight. Looking at Emerald’s PokeDex, Takim found it was indeed a Bug-type when checking its PokeDex entry. The name of its species was Armaldo. The Bug and Rock-type was the first to speak.

“And what makes you think we’ll spare you?” he asked.

“Yes,” the male Kabutops said. “You think we’ll extend the same courtesy to you?”

“Why?” Takim shouted. “Have you just given up on life that much? You should be thanking us!”

“We’ve long since given up on hope,” the Armaldo said.

He attempted to slash forward at Roxanne from behind with his right claw. Immediately a flash of light appeared from one of the PokeBalls around Roxanne’s waist to swallow the Bug and Rock-type up. The Gym leader smiled before taking the PokeBall into her hand and opening it up for the Pokemon to appear in front of her.

“These devices,” the Kabutops said. “They keep us imprisoned even when trying to kill the owner. Certainly you know that.”

“Locks onto the DNA signature of the last person to touch the ball and the captured Pokemon itself!” Roxanne laughed. “Downright impressive what us humans can do.”

“You expect us to try to resist under such conditions?!” the Armaldo demanded. “You can try to save us all you want but we cannot escape.”

“Then why go on living?” Leif asked. “Why obey those you don’t want to?”

“Who says I don’t want to?” the Golem said with a laugh. “I’m happy to have this much power at my disposal. I don’t care if I occasionally hurt others.”

“The same reason all creatures struggle through hardship,” the Kabutops said. “Hope for the better. But in our case...I do not care if you kill us. I have no will of my own. I would not mind dying.”

“And for that I want you, Kabutops, to keep working on digging,” Roxanne ordered.

He nodded before turning around and slamming his claws into the stone wall. Upon slicing at the stone the wall began to be reduced to pebbles. The Gym leader laughed as the stone began to quickly fall to the cave floor as small rocks.

“Any species that can be so easily taken control of is lesser than the dominant species,” Roxanne chided. “It is only natural that the strong take advantage of the weak. It works the same in the wild.”

The Hariyama couldn’t stand seeing Roxanne smile so smugly hearing her Pokemon say that. It was clear that she was proud she could subjugate others. She clearly took pride in her race’s superiority over all Pokemon. To a great extent, it reminded Takim of herself.

She slammed her palm into the cave floor in front of her. The energy of her Force Palm could immediately be felt by all in front of her. Roxanne was knocked off her feet and groaned in pain as her back hit the stone floor. While the Lairon and Golem did little more than wince, the Armaldo and Kabutops winced in pain before kneeling from the shock.

She then raced forward to slam her open palm into the Armaldo only to find it lunged forward faster than she thought it would. The Bug and Fighting-type slashed in a cross shape against Takim’s hand. The pain of being sliced hurt Takim to the extent she stopped her Arm Thrust in mid-attack.

That’s the first attack to do real damage to me since evolving. Takim realized. Could those claws be as sharp as Leif’s Leaf Blade?

Just Takim was struck by blood oozing from her right hand, the Armaldo attempted to slash at her again.

“Madelyn!” Emerald shouted. “Hydro Pump!”

The Gyarados blasted a powerful stream of water at Roxanne. However, the Golem and Lairon were already in front of the Gym leader by the time Madelyn attacked. The Golem grabbed a plate of stones from its exterior in each hand before ripping them off. The stones hit the ground before growing into large slabs that formed a wall in front them.

Two perfectly rectangular barriers of rock obstructed the Hydro Pump as one stood directly in front of the other. Now safely behind the Rock Tomb, Roxanne’s Lairon then roared before stone spikes grew from its back. The sharp rocks launched at Madelyn to pierce her yellow underside to bloody her. The Gyarados roared in pain as she recoiled from being struck by the Stone Edge.

The Hariyama instinctively grabbed the Armaldo’s claw with her undamaged hand. She attempted to throw him down but the Armaldo stabbed with his free claw into her gut. The wound was shallow but still painful. Unable to bear it, Takim jumped back before holding her wound to prevent blood loss.

“Why are you fighting at full power?!” the Hariyama demanded. “If you hate being a slave then why fight?!”

“Because if I do not fight at full power,” the Armaldo said. “I will not eat. Roxanne has taken my food away before for refusing to risk my survival.”

Takim tried to stand at full height rather than bowing down in pain. The Armaldo lunged at her but she slammed her palm squarely into his chest. The pain the Hariyama was experiencing actually caused her to do more damage than she originally intended. Takim lost her focus in attempting to retaliate and gave more force behind her Force Palm than she originally intended.

The Armaldo screamed in pain as it nearly fell over backward before standing erect. Takim was confused as to how it could get up after such an intense super-effective attack before realizing it was part Bug-type. She remembered Bug-type Pokemon naturally had squishy sort of bodies that allowed them to absorb certain physical blows better than higher defense Pokemon.

The malleable exterior Bug Pokemon were equipped with had a certain amount of give to it that stone did not have. As high a defense as Rock and Steel-type Pokemon had, Fighting-type moves were specialized in breaking solid objects. It made the armor-like quality of their element useless. But more pliable bodies were harder to penetrate with sheer blunt force.

Being a combination of both Rock and Bug my Fighting moves are only dealing normal damage. She thought. I need to fight smarter…