The rest of the trip through Union Cave took several more hours, even with Russell's map. Parts of the trail were a bit darker than others, meaning that Cyndaquil and Magby had to light the way for them. Eventually, they reached the other end of the cave, and they stopped to rest before exiting.
"Man, that took forever!" Jen had found a boulder to use as a temporary chair, and had recalled Magby. "I'm glad we had Russell's map to guide us, otherwise we'd still be wandering around back there."
"You said it. I wonder what time it is now; it must be nearly night." James checked his Pokégear and started: it was nearly six in the evening, the trek through the cave had taken hours! "Alright, it's early evening now, so we should find a place to camp out until tomorrow. We can move on to Azalea Town in the morning. So let's go!" Without a second thought, James had bolted from the cave, and reappeared almost as quickly.
"What's wrong?" Jen asked, looking at James and recognizing that he was now soaking wet. "And why are your clothes wet?"
"It's raining out there. Hard." James shook the water from his hair like a wet Growlithe and laughed slightly. "It doesn't look like it's gonna stop, either. I did see a decent spot to put up our tent, so we should head there and then camp for the night. Should we risk it?"
"Definitely. Beats sleeping in a cave all night." Jen picked her bag up off the floor, and James recalled Cyndaquil to keep him from getting soaked as well. After they each pulled on a sweatshirt to keep relatively dry, the pair hurried out of the cave, being careful not to trip on any stray boulders along the way. The spot James had found wasn't too far from the cave, and they reached it quickly, breaking out the tent almost as soon as they got there.
"Alright, why don't we set this thing up, then eat whatever we have packed inside? That way we can hang out in here until we finally go to sleep."
"Sounds like a plan," Jen answered, and they got to work.
----------------------------------------
Half an hour later, after much frustration and a fiercely thrown rock from James, they got the tent set up. They didn't stop to admire their handiwork, throwing their packs inside and scrambling out of the rain. Jen pulled out the sandwiches they'd brought from the Pokémon Centre, and they ate in near silence, listening to the rain pounding the tent. They'd also broken out a canister of Pokémon food that Jen had brought, and each Pokémon took turns to receive their share. After they'd finished, Jen broke the silence.
"So, when we get to Azalea, who's battling first?"
"Definitely you, Jen. I got to go first last time, so it's only fair that you get the first crack at the Gym Leader."
"Alright. That means I've got to come up with a strategy, and with the Pokémon I've got that might not be easy."
"You did fine against Falkner."
"Yeah, but that was really difficult too. I had time to prepare, but my Pokémon weren't as heavily trained as yours, and it took a lucky shot—don't look at me like that, it was a lucky shot—to take out a really powerful Pokémon. This battle isn't going to be easy at all."
"But then, what Gym battle is? That's their job, right? To test a trainer's abilities to the absolute limit. If it were easy, then we wouldn't have to train so hard."
"I guess..."
"Trust me, Jen, you're going to do fine. Your Pokémon really trust you, and they'll come good. Just keep your confidence up and you'll win, no problems."
"You know what, James, you're right. It's funny, didn't I tell you the same thing yesterday?"
"You did. I thought it would help for you to take your own advice."
"You're a good friend, James. I'm glad our parents made us travel together, otherwise I'd be stuck back in Violet." James grinned, and Jen gave him a playful shove before diving into her sleeping bag. James followed her lead and did the same after he'd shut the tent's entrance flap, while Cyndaquil leaped on top of him as soon as he'd zipped his own sleeping bag shut. After a quick 'goodnight', they both drifted off to sleep.
----------------------------------------
Before they knew it, the pair were awake and listening to the still-steady rain outside. James shook his head in annoyance, and after a hurried breakfast they took down the tent and started again towards Azalea. While steady, the rain was lighter than the night before, so they didn't get too wet. Eager to escape the drizzle, they moved as quickly as they could, sparing little time for any wild Pokémon on the route.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Days later, as they turned a corner they spotted a sign that read Route 33 and pointed out two landmarks: Azalea Town was due west, while Union Cave was to the east. Just as they'd reached the sign, the rain stopped altogether. They hurried past the sign and saw a fork in the road. One path led to what looked like an old well, and the other to the town itself.
"So, should we head right into town, or check out this well?"
"I say look at the well. The town's right there, so we can go in there as soon as we've checked this place out."
"Sounds fine to me." Cyndaquil poked his head out from underneath James' rain jacket, and the Fire Mouse let out a relieved squeak. "You okay, buddy? I hope you didn't get too wet in there." Cyndaquil squeaked again, then hopped onto James' shoulder. The two youngsters headed over to the well and peered inside.
"There's a ladder here, but it's really old-looking. Should we chance it?" Jen was looking apprehensively at the rickety wooden ladder leading to the bottom of the well.
"Why not?" James carefully eased himself over the edge and placed a foot on the ladder's top rung. “Okay, here goes. I'll let you know how I get on.”
----------------------------------------
It took James nearly five minutes to reach the bottom of the ladder, each step seemingly more wobbly than the last. Cyndaquil had jumped to James' head to give him a light to see by, and he scampered back up to help Jen. Jen was quicker to descend, and hit the floor with a huge grin on her face.
“That wasn't so tough, was it?” James just raised an eyebrow at her, and she let Magby out to add some more light to the area. The cavern looked to be a large underground stream, with boulders strewn about the area. Every now and then, a pink hippo-like creature would be slumped over a boulder or sitting absent-mindedly with its tail in the water.
“Kinda quiet down here,” James murmured, looking around nervously. Cyndaquil's and Magby's lights didn't reach very far, and most of the cavern was in shadow. “I can't imagine what these Pokémon are doing down here. Come to think of it, I have no idea what they are.”
“Well, why don't we scan one and find out about them?” Jen took out her Pokédex and trained it on one of the creatures.
“Slowpoke, the Dopey Pokémon. This Water- and Psychic-type is extremely slow-witted, and it takes a very long time for its brain to register external stimuli.”
“The Pokédex is right, they don't look very bright. They're just sitting there with their tails in the water.”
“They could be fishing. Although if they're as slow as the Pokédex says, it might take them a while to figure out if they caught anything.”
“And they'd have to decide what to do with it.” Jen giggled, and Cyndaquil let out several high-pitched squeaks. Magby, however, looked down the cavern and pulled on the leg of Jen's jeans.
“What is it, Magby?” Magby pointed down the cavern, and a figure materialized from the shadows.
"HEY! What were you kids doing down here!" An old man with gray hair and wearing a teal kimono was running towards them. He stopped and caught his breath before speaking again. "People aren't normally supposed to be down the Slowpoke Well, except for research.” Jen looked down at her shoes.
“We saw the ladder and thought we'd take a look. We didn't know we weren't allowed down here.” Kurt shook his head, but his expression had become less stern.
“That ladder's not safe, it's much too old and unstable for use. I've been meaning to replace it for years, but I never seem to find the time. Didn't you see the sign next to the well?"
“Sign?” James looked at Jen, puzzled. “What sign?”
“Don't tell me the sign got knocked down! Those darn kids...there's usually a sign that reads KEEP OUT, but it must've gone missing. I really must take better care of these things...”
"We're sorry, sir." Jen answered, looking sheepish. "We didn't know it was dangerous, we just arrived here."
"Out-of-towners, eh? Where are you kids from?"
"We're from Violet City. We came to Azalea to challenge the Gym Leader here."
"Trainers! Well, now I'm not so surprised you tried to go down there. Such boldness is admirable, but it's important to stay safe as well."
"That's true. Who are you, anyway? Are you like a guard or something?"
"Oh, no, I just try to make sure newcomers don't get hurt down there. My name is Kurt, and I use Apricorns to make special Pokéballs. Why don't we teleport out of here, and then head into town? I can introduce you to our Gym Leader, Bugsy."
"We'd really appreciate that, thank you, Kurt." Kurt released a small, ball-like Pokémon, and they all teleported out in a flash of light.
----------------------------------------
Azalea Town was much smaller and simpler than Violet, with wooden houses amid the more modern buildings like the Pokémon Centre. Inside the Centre, trainers and residents alike were going about their business. A young man with purple hair stood near the counter, a long-handled net in his hand. Kurt led them over to him and introduced him as the Azalea Town Gym Leader.
"Hey, it's good to meet new challengers! My name's Bugsy, and as Kurt told you, I'm the Leader of the Azalea Gym. You can also probably guess that I specialize in Bug-type Pokémon. What are your names?"
"My name's Jennifer, and this is my friend James. We came from Violet City to challenge the Gym here."
"Wow, you came all the way here from Violet? That's a bit of a hike, but it must have been a lot of fun too."
"It was. We're looking to go all the way to the Silver Conference tournament."
"Well, my Gym is the second stop on the route there. Now, there are two of you, so who's going to challenge me first?"
"I will." Jen answered. "But can we have the first challenge tomorrow? I think it would be better for us to get used to the city and maybe train a bit before we go at it."
"Tomorrow sounds fine. I'll see you both then."