20 years ago

  The water glistened like diamonds in the bay of Hulbury, the sun gently laying down its bright shine. Wingulls and Pelippers took flight, loudly cawing. The tide was being gently churned by the boats headed out for sea for their daily fishing trips, the breeze picking up their sails and pushing them out, sweeping through the pleasant gardens of the rows of houses. Little Jumpluffs and Flabébés were picked up and floated gracefully through the air.

  “The little loser’s trying to run! Get him!” Three big kids were running down the street, chasing another, smaller child. Slightly ahead of them, running as fast as his small legs would carry him, was the scrawny Keith Morgan. It was the biggest kid who had given the command, the one standing in the middle of the three lug heads, named Caleb.

  “Where ya runnin’ Keith? Ya scared, then?” Jeered the kid on the left, Vinnie. Keith didn’t answer, focused on running smoothly over the bricked path, each step was swift and careful, yet still, he was stumbling, those jerks were getting closer, he wouldn’t be able to run much longer.

  Quickly he turned a corner, slipping into an alley between two houses, hoping to slip through and lose the bullies, but his luck had run out. He was faced with a brick wall. He tried to quickly turn and escape, but he was trapped, his pursuers closing in on him. “Nowhere to go Keith, time for a pounding.” The kid on the right, Dennis, said with a sneer.

  Caleb stepped closer to Keith, “Now, you ready to say sorry for what you called me? Or do I gotta slug ya?”

  Keith hucked a loogie and spat on Caleb’s face. “Blow off.”

  Caleb reeled back. “Gross, loser! Whadja do that for?” He wiped off his face.

  “I’m cleaning off the ugliness.” Keith grunted.

  “You’re dead meat!” Caleb yelled, balling up his fist and slugging Keith in the face. His head rocked back and he bumped his head against the wall. Caleb grabbed him by the collar, holding up his fist. “Say you’re sorry, loser.”

  “Oi! There a problem here, boys?” A female voice called from behind, all four boys looked over, a long neck was peering into the alleyway, a neck attached to a young Tropius, riding on his back was a young girl about a year older than all of them. She had smooth brown hair and a smug expression. “Or am I gonna have to break up another fight?”

  Caleb paled, he’d been pummeled a few too many times by this girl to try and stand up to her. “Eira, hey, we was just foolin, honest.” He muttered, holding up his hands, feigning innocence.

  “Piss off Eira, I can take em.” Keith spat.

  “Shut up Keith. You three, outta my sight before I show you what I taught Trompy the other day.” Without being asked a second time, the bullies rushed off, moving as fast as they could.

  Eira jumped from Trompy’s back and gave Vinnie a quick mini-lunge as he was scrambling away. “You got lucky this time Keith, better thank your girlfriend.” Caleb called.

  “She’s not my bloody girlfriend!” Keith yelled. Eira walked over to Keith, taking him by the face and examining his wound. “I could’ve taken ‘em.” He protested.

  “No, you couldn’t have. What’d you do this time?” Eira asked.

  “I didn’t do nothing!” Keith answered.

  Eira pressed her thumb against the forming bruise. “Don’t lie to me.”

  “Ah! Ok ok, I called him a Slowpoke.” Keith confessed, reeling backwards.

  “Why do you insist on starting fights you can’t win?” Eira chided. “You’re gonna get yourself killed.”

  Keith scowled, not happy that Eira was right, as usual. “How’d you know I was in trouble?” Keith asked.

  “Cause you’re always in trouble.” Eira folded her arms. “I didn’t know. Trompy and I found something in the mine and I wanted to show you. You’re lucky I found you.”

  “We’re not supposed to play in the mine, Mum said so.” Keith said, scratching Trompy’s chin. He was still young, but his neck was already incredibly long.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Eira rolled her eyes, “Jeez Keith, are you really gonna worry about rules your whole life? Come on.” Keith reluctantly folded his arms. Eira huffed, “Fine, I’ll just go without you. Come on, Trompy.” Eira climbed onto Trompy’s back and started to walk away.

  Keith stood firmly where he was, then shuffled on his feet for a moment, then started running after Eira. “Hey wait up!” Eira helped him onto their Tropius’ back and the three headed for the Galar mine.

  Keith never liked Galar mine, it always freaked him out, the large, gaping mouth, the spooky chill of the wind. He hated every bit, but Eira loved it. She was always looking for an excuse to go into the mine, and when she couldn’t find an excuse, she went anyway. There was nothing she loved more than exploring the long tunnels of the mine, discovering all of the pokémon that Keith found terrifying. Trompy loved exploring with her, he was very brave for his age, but as he was quickly getting too big for the smaller tunnels, and it wasn’t long before they had to return him to the pokéball.

  “Can I hold him?” Keith asked, “You’ve had him at your house for two days, it’s my turn.” Neither of the two technically owned the pokémon, he had been a gift from Eira’s grandfather for both of them, since neither of them had been to the trainer academy, the two friends shared him as a pet.

  “Fine, here ya are.” Eira tossed the ball to Keith, who clumsily caught it. “Hurry up, Keith, we’re almost there.” Eira dragged Keith by the arm into the smaller tunnel, leading him into the darkness.

  “Eira, I can’t see. Do you know where we’re going.” After no response, Eira’s hand let go of Keith’s arm. “...Eira?” He asked the darkness, suddenly way more afraid than he was before. He tried to back up against a wall, but couldn’t find anything. They were deep into the mine now, and for some reason this passage had no lanterns up. It was pitch black.

  “Boo.” Suddenly Eira was 3 inches in front of Keith’s face, her face lit up with a flashlight.

  “AH!” Keith shrieked, leaping backwards, slamming against the rock wall. Eira busted out laughing. “That’s not funny...” Keith pouted.

  “Your face, holy Arceus!” Eira wiped a laughing tear from her eye and gave Keith the flashlight, “Here ya big baby.”

  “I wanna go home.” Keith crossed his arms.

  “Come on, Keith, we’re almost there.” Eira rolled her eyes.

  “No. It’s dark, and scary, and I’m cold, and my head hurts.” He protested firmly.

  “Pleeeeease. It’s so cool!” Eira begged. “We’re almost there, just a little further.”

  Keith hated that he wasn’t immediately turning around and walking away. He knew they shouldn’t be here. He knew this was a bad idea. He hated it down here. His head was really starting to hurt from all the bruises he was amassing, he didn’t want to end up with more.

  Then again, Eira knew fun. Keith knew that Eira knew fun. Wherever Eira took him, it was always fun, or cool. He never regretted it. Not once.

  “Fine. Let’s go.” Keith slumped, reluctantly following Eira as she hurried along the tunnel, taking one final bend, they opened into a yawning chasm.

  “Check it out.” Eira said proudly, standing at the lip of the massive hole confidently. Keith cautiously approached, looking out over the edge, he shined the flashlight into the hole, but there was nothing for the light to bounce off of. It simply shined into the darkness, eventually dispersing into nothing.

  “Wh-what’s down there?” Keith asked, his hands starting to shake.

  “I have absolutely no idea.” Eira spoke with a voice filled with a little more intense fascination than Keith was comfortable with. “You wanna see if we can find out?”

  Keith stared agape at Eira, “How are we supposed to find out? There’s no way down!”

  Eira waved it off, “We’ll find a way down. Come on, we’re Pokémon trainers, aren’t we?”

  Keith threw up his hands, “No, we are not! We’re not even old enough to have a license.”

  “But we will. We’ll be the greatest trainers in Galar. The kind of trainers that can get down into this hole. Now come on!” Eira spoke triumphantly.

  “Eira, we should really go…” Keith stepped back from the ledge.

  “I have an idea.” She picked up a rock and threw it down into the hole.

  “EIRA NO!” Keith shouted, grabbing her hand to stop her, but it was too late. The rock careened into the gaping blackness, the children watched as it rapidly fell away, until they could no longer see it. The rock made no noise as it fell to nowhere, until it did. Deep from the bottom of the chasm, there was the faintest sound of the rock hitting something...metal.

  For a moment, there was silence. Neither Keith nor Eira moved, they had both heard it clearly. Then, a bright red light began to glow at the base of the chasm, and the mine began to shake.

  “Eira...Eira…” Keith stumbled backwards, tugging her t-shirt sleeve, “Let’s go…”

  Eira pushed him off, she wanted to see what it was. She had to know. And she very quickly found out. A massive roar shook the cavern as something large and red shot upwards from inside the chasm, a massive red and black body hovered in the air, its dragon-like skeletal head staring the children down.

  "Eira...wh-what is that thing?" Keith planted himself against the wall, searching for the opening back the way they had come.

  The beast didn't have eyes, its head was nothing but a glowing red mass with black bones inside, but Eira could feel it staring her down, she felt her knees getting weak. Was this fear? Was this what it felt like? She hated it. "I-I think it's a pokémon..." She stammered, backing away as well.

  "A pokémon? Th-there's no way." The Beast reared back it head, its whole body undulating as it hovered. It seemed to have wings, but they didn't move. It let out a powerful roar, one that shook both the cavern and the children.

  "Eira..."

  "Run!"

  Without another word the children turned and bolted down the narrow tunnel, Eira in front and Keith behind with the flashlight, ensuring neither tripped. Both were worried they'd become lost, they had taken so many twists and turns on their way here, but Eira's muscle memory was good, and quick, she was able to get them out of the narrow tunnel, quickly she began to climb up the rockface they had come down before. Keith hesitated, worried about his ability, but another roar behind him caused him to practically jump onto the wall and begin climbing.

  It wasn't a long climb for an adult, but for two ten year olds it was practically a mountain, but soon they were over the top of the wall and running along the cart rails for the entrance to the mine. Finally, the two made it into the open air, panting.

  Keith collapsed into the grass, and Eira leaned up against the outside of the mine. "We're ok. We're safe." Keith panted. Eira suddenly started laughing. She rushed over and tackled Keith.

  "That was awesome!!" She cried, a massive smile on her face. "The adrenaline! The running, the screaming, what even was that thing? Was it a pokémon? Can we catch it? Can I catch it?..."

  Keith let her ramble on, pinned to the ground in her cross between a tackle and a hug. He smiled. It was pretty awesome.