Chapter Thirty-Three - Soft and Silly

Jazz was a little worried about Union Cave. She'd been through it before, but last time she'd followed a large wave of trainers, including a pokemon ranger who made sure the cave was cleared of any trouble. A few trainers had stopped to catch a pokemon or two, but otherwise it had been rather uneventful.

Now it was just her and Broccoli, and their pokemon of course, but none of those were the kind of pokemon that she'd expect to see in a cave.

She checked her gear again, which was really just a rechargeable flashlight and that walking stick the hiking gear shop salesman had convinced her to buy. Now that she'd walked with it... yeah, that was a lot of pokedollars wasted.

"Ready?" Broccoli asked. She was smiling confidently, not even a little bothered by the thought of diving into a deep dark cave.

"I suppose," Jazz said. She withdrew her pokemon. Sage might wander off, and Bellsprout wasn't fond of places without sunlight. He'd be coming out if they had to fight any Rock-types. Vine Whip would hit hard there. If they ran into some aggressive Rattata too. Their poison would be a good answer. The zubat were going to be somewhat immune to that kind of attack, and they were known to be annoying in caves.

Sage might be able to take care of them? It would be good training in any case!

Broccoli hummed happily as she stepped into the cave. She now had two pokeballs stuffed into the pockets of her bandoleer, but neither of her pokemon were in there. They didn't enjoy their pokeballs, and both seemed ready and willing to brave the cave instead of being withdrawn.

"You're not nervous?" Jazz asked.

"Nope!" Broccoli said. "Actually, it might be nice. This is the first cave I'll be in in a while that isn't some sort of mysterious dungeon full of traps and monsters. Just a plain-old normal cave! Well, mostly normal, I guess some pokemon live here?"

Skipping right past... most of that, Jazz focused on the last part. "Yeah. Geodudes and zubats and rattata mostly. Some sandshrew as well, but they're less common, and we might run into an onix if we're unlucky, but probably not."

"Okay," Broccoli said. "I don't know what any of those but the rattata are."

Jazz scrunched her nose, but it was a fair question. "Okay then. Geodude are small rock-like pokemon. They're like a stone with two arms? Tough, Rock-type, and generally pretty numerous. Not super aggressive unless you provoke them. Sandshrew are beige little shrew pokemon? Uh, they're Ground-type, so weak to water. Great at digging, big claws."

Broccoli nodded. "What about the zubat? Are they like bats?"

"Yes," Jazz said. "They're small blue-purple bat pokemon. They're very common and kind of aggressive? Some consider them a pest. I'm considering catching one."

"Really?" Broccoli asked. Choco tilted his head and looked up to her too. "I thought you wanted a Poison-type team?"

"Zubat are Poison-type," Jazz said. "One of the only Flying-Poison dual-types."

"Pokemon can be more than one type?" Broccoli asked.

Jazz stared. "Did we not cover this?"

"No? I don't think so? Wait... maybe you mentioned it in passing and I just didn't notice," Broccoli said. She glanced around herself, finally seeming to notice that it was rather dark. Jazz's flashlight was creating a small beam of yellowish light to see by, but otherwise they only had the light from the cave's entrance to rely on.

Further in there were some lights on the floor, set there by the pokemon rangers to mark out a path. They gave off a purer, white light, but it was fairly faint and diffuse. Jazz imagined that they had to run for a long time at a stretch. Taking them was theft, of course, and just plain rude as well.

"Hmm, well, Choco is just a Normal-type, and Azurill is a Water-type, of course. I think she's Water-Normal?"

"Azu?" Azurill asked.

"I'll look it up later," Jazz promised. "But we're kind of in a cave, reception's gonna be awful. Anyway, my pokemon are both dual types. Bellsprout is Grass and Sage, as a Gastly, is a Ghost-type, of course."

"Huh, neat!" Broccoli said. "Does the order matter? You said some are Flying-Poison, are there Poison-Flying?"

"Not that I know of, for the Poison-Flying, I mean. But the order... kinda matters? I think? I'm not a professor, and I think that it's mostly just a categorization thing. Some pokemon probably deserve triple types. They can learn moves from more than just their two primary types, but have a harder time with them. But then most pokemon can learn dozens of moves that aren't in their type."

"Huh," Broccoli said. "I can't remember all the types... what's a good example?"

Jazz frowned in thought. "Okay, so beedrill, uh, that's a big wasp-like pokemon. Well, big for a wasp, it's about this big." She gestured a rough sphere the size of a head. "About this wide, about half as tall as you?"

"That's a large wasp," Broccoli said. "You know, I think that wasps always got the short end of the stick. Sure, they're mean and bitey and stingy, sometimes for no reason, but that's just because no one tries to get to know them. They just want a bit of love too, I think."

"Uh-huh," Jazz said. She'd pay to see Broccoli try to hug an angry swarm of beedrill. Actually, no. That'd just end with a dead Broccoli. They weren't to be messed with. "Anyway, beedrill are Bug-types, but they're also Poison-type, and can learn a lot of Flying-type moves. So some people argue that they should be considered triple typed. But some professors say that it's wrong."

"Ah, okay then," Broccoli said. She frowned. "What were we talking about before this?"

"Uh," Jazz said. She couldn't remember at all. "Wait, were we talking about the local pokemon? Right! Sandshrew, geodude, and zubat."

Broccoli nodded. "You said you wanted a zubat?"

Jazz made a wiggling gesture with her hand, the one not holding her light. "So-so? They're pretty strong as they evolve, but no one knows how to get a crobat. They have a decent range of moves, and are Poison-types, but I think that they're otherwise kind of just weaker than some other options?"

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"Oh, that's too bad. I think bats are cute."

"You'd find a feebas cute."

"What do they look like?" Broccoli asked.

"Like an ugly, rocky fish thing," Jazz said.

Broccoli smiled. "Sounds cute!" she said teasingly.

Jazz rolled her eyes. She was about to tell Broccoli off when there was a scream from further in the cave. The echoing call of a zubat, she recognized. Had another trainer run into one? There were a few around the pokemon centre, so it wouldn't have surprised her to learn that they weren't the first into the cave that morning.

"What was that?" Broccoli asked.

"Probably just someone that ran into a pokemon," Jazz said. "Let's continue to follow the light trail. But keep your eyes open, other pokemon might come out looking for a fight if they hear that one."

"Alright," Broccoli said, then she stopped as a distant 'zubat!' sounded from deeper within the cave. "That was someone screaming for help!"

"That was a zubat," Jazz said.

Broccoli looked at her, lips pursed in disappointment. "And they were asking for help," she said.

Jazz hesitated, then sighed. "Fine. We'll check it out, but let's not get lost, alright."

Broccoli nodded, smiled, and created a small ball of light over her open palm. Choco looked at it for a moment before staring at his own paw. A moment later he had a much smaller, much weaker ball of light to guide himself with. It was wispy and falling apart already, but it worked. That buneary was a quick learner.

They jogged towards the source of the noise, and as they rounded a corner, Jazz could make out two men arguing about something.

"Is everyone okay over here?" Broccoli called out as she raised her light.

Jazz squinted. Those two guys were dressed a little strangely. Something about their outfits... and then they turned and she could make out the large R across their chest. "Holy Arceus, Team Rocket!" she gasped. Jazz almost dropped her light as she fumbled for her pokeballs. She tossed them down, releasing Sage and Bellsprout right in front of her.

"Better part of discretion?" one of the Team Rocket guys asked.

"No, we stay and fight," the other said. Still, he took a step back. The one who remained turned their way, and when he did his pal turned on a heel, recalled his pokemon—an ekans?—and then bolted into the dark.

"H-hey! You coward!" the abandoned Team Rocket member said. Jazz felt some of the sudden tension leaving her.

Team Rocket were trouble, big trouble. They were worse in Kanto, but their presence was all over. They'd ambush young trainers with rare pokemon and steal them, or set up scams that robbed the unaware. The rangers hated them too, for all of the poaching they did.

Fighting them was beyond her.

But fighting one lone grunt?

Then the grunt in question turned and started to bolt. "Oh no, Bellsprout, Vine Whip his ankles. We're not letting them both get away!" the trainer said.

"Dammit. Go rattata!" the Team Rocket grunt shouted. A large rattata appeared before him. "Quick Attack that Bellsprout!"

Jazz winced as the rattata disappeared in a blur and rammed into Bellsprout. That had hurt a little, but her lil guy was tough!

"Bellsprout! Poison Powder. Sage, get in there and take out the rattata!" she said.

"Uh," Broccoli said. "Is this a normal fight?" She was tense, feet wide, hands gripping that shovel she'd insisted on buying a few days ago as if it was a lifeline.

"No, of course not! He's a criminal, Broccoli. They steal pokemon." Jazz really needed to sit Broccoli in front of a TV for a few hours to get her caught up on this kind of thing.

"Are you sure he's a criminal?" Broccoli asked.

Jazz gestured wildly at the grunt. "He's wearing their uniform."

"That seems like something very stupid for a criminal to do, just saying."

That was true, but they were also Team Rocket. No one considered them bastions of wisdom and intelligence. But being idiots just made them all the more dangerous.

Choco leapt in and fired a few of his ranged moves at the rattata. They didn't do much, but did distract it enough for Bellsprout to land a few more Vine Whips, knocking it out. The grunt tried to run again, but Sage got in his way and Bellsprout wrapped around his arms and legs.

"I'll tie him up," Broccoli said as she pulled a potion from her bandoleer and tossed it to Jazz. "Can you take care of that poor zubat over there? He looks hurt."

Jazz turned, only now noticing the injured zubat caught in a net.

The green zubat.

That... probably explained why Team Rocket were here. A pokemon coloured differently was a rare sight. Not unheard of, but definitely far from common.

She moved closer, then slowed when the zubat tried to free itself. It was hurt worse than she thought. A broken wing, maybe? They'd need to backtrack to the pokemon centre.

"Hey there, buddy," she said. "You look hurt. Would you mind if I help you heal a little? Then we can chat, what do you say?" She held out the potion bottle and shook it a little.

The zubat hesitated, but didn't stop her from spritzing one of the little cuts on his wingtip. It healed, visibly closing up and probably feeling better. That was enough for the zubat to lower its guard.

"I'm sorry about the Team Rocket jerks. They're... awful people. They caught you in that net, huh?"

"Zuuu."

"Yeah," she said. She didn't have Broccoli's gift of understanding, but she could guess well enough. "Okay, so... your wing is broken, definitely."

"Zu, zubat!" the zubat said. It shifted, flapping its wings only to scream in pain and fall back down.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, it's okay." She imagined that a wild pokemon with a broken wing... well, it'd be someone's lunch by the end of the day unless it was particularly strong. "Okay... we're going to bring you to someone that can help, okay? They'll heal you right up. And then, once that's done, we'll see what to do, alright?"

She really, really wanted to catch this guy. And just a week ago, she would have, no questions.

Dammit, spending time with Broccoli was making her soft and stupid.

***