Chapter 8

It was a good thing that potions worked on human wounds as well as Pokemon. The injured scabbed over on Brock's left side after the spray medicine was used. It was fairly odd to see the same thing happen to the gym leader's Pokemon but with stone regenerating rather than flesh.

The gleaming black diamonds of his Onix almost looked like they hadn't been damaged at all while the moss covered rock plates of his Golem grew over instantly. His Kabutops chest plates grew back after spraying the potion over the front of its body. Red was nearly out of potions at that point as he'd used up quite a few healing his own Pokemon battling wild Pokemon as well as trainers' over the last few days.

"I'm sorry for killing your Pokemon," he said. "I didn't mean to. My Onix...she got too carried away."

Red paused for a moment while he leaned over the gym leader as he laid down. He shrugged. Pokemon battles that were televised were notoriously brutal. Only about a fifth of all gym battles ended in a fatality but the blood and injuries were in literally every match. It was a flawed system but a necessary one for dividing the weak from the strong.

"Us military trainers…" he said. "Our Pokemon experience harsh battles for survival so often that they have the instinct to kill or be killed in every event. I didn't want to kill the Pokemon I knew you'd taken time to raise but...things can get out of hand pretty quickly for even the most advanced of us trainers."

"I understand," Red said. "I don't hold you personally responsible. I just wish others didn't have to see me live in that failure."

"If I make it out of here alive I'll make it up to you," he said.

The gym leader groaned as he motioned upward.

"Rockets were stronger than I thought," Brock admitted as he sat up, still holding his healed side in pain. "And in greater numbers than anticipated. I brought eight gym trainers down here. Most of them died and the few that didn't escaped. The Rockets killed two of my Pokemon in the battle."

"They were able to kill a gym leader's Pokemon?" Red asked. "They must be tough!"

"Don't sell me so short, kid," Brock chuckled. "They only did it as a group effort. Rocket grunts won with overwhelming numbers and ganging up on us. Besides, we killed more than half of them before they ran us out."

He stood up, steading himself to his feet.

"Sorry, kid," he said. "But I've got to go now. We have to finish clearing the Rockets out of here."

"You're not going there alone," Red said. "We'll help!"

"We will?" Leta asked.

"We will?!" the Nidoran protested.

"We will!" Cinder exclaimed.

Brock shook his head.

"You're a novice trainer," he said. "With barely any battle experience and a crippling lack of confidence. You don't have what it takes to face down the Rockets."

He lowered his head, careful not to meet the gym leader's gaze.

"You might be ready to be a strong local trainer," he said. "But I doubt you could stay strong against a swarm of Rockets. Go back to Pewter City."

Red balled his hands into fists before turning up and glaring.

"No!" he said. "I won't run away anymore!"

"Red," Leta said. "I know you want to help but-"

"But if I run away now I'll be no better than what those kids in Pallet Town make me out to be," Red said. "A weakling whose too gutless to face danger head on."

Brock gave a glare of disapproval. Despite his stoic gaze, Red tried to match his expression with his own determined look. The gym leader sighed.

"Foolhardy trainers like you who throw your lives away for the least amount of glory are dime a dozen," he said. "They get themselves killed too often to count. The world has no need of your kind and it's better they die early than surviving to take someone out with them."

He sighed and gestured for him to follow.

"Let's hurry," he said.

Both Red and Brock had to return their Pokemon to their Pokeballs to climb down the ladder. However, the interior of the hole was illuminated with small bulbs that lit up as soon as they entered. However, once Red reached the bottom after Brock had climbed all the way down, Red found there was no light source outside the bulbs in the vertical, descending tunnel.

The two trainers brought out their Pokemon again and when Cinder appeared, his tail flame revealed something odd. There were cables that had similar bulbs causing the place to shine along the shallow rut of the second floor. Red turned to the gym leader in confusion.

"Why aren't there any lights on the first floor?" Red asked.

"Apparently," Brock said. "The Rockets got rid of them to discourage people from entering the cave. Their own evil deeds were committed deeper within Mt. Moon. Stay on guard because the Rockets have been stirred up and on high alert now that they know enemy trainers are in the area."

Brock and Red's walked down the path dug in front of them with the younger trainer's Pokemon within the vicinity of the rut. Brock's larger Pokemon walked further away from the path while still within the edge of the bulbs' light, careful to keep themselves from stepping on the bulbs. Upon straying further down the second floor, Red found a gruesome sight.

Bodies of Pokemon and humans littered the cave floor. Most of the human bodies were dressed in the typical black uniform of the Rockets but most were mangled or delimbed. Red could make out a few trainers that he guessed were trainers from the Pewter City Gym as they wore gray clothing like Brock did. However, those bodies were outnumbered by dead Pokemon.

The Pokemon that had died near the Rockets were more varied in type and body shape while the Pokemon lying near the Pewter City trainers were all Rock-type or Ground-type. And blood was everywhere. Just everywhere. Barely a single spot that wasn't littered with corpses had been flooded with pools of blood.

"What happened here?" Cinder asked.

"It's horrible!" Leta yelled. "I-there may be as many as a hundred dead!"

"More than that," the Nidoran said. "An absolute war took place."

"Yeah," Brock said. "Wasn't pretty. I ran out of spray medicine pretty quickly. And now that you're almost out this has to be an all or nothing thing. I'll lead the way since I know where the path is underneath all the...non-living matter by traversing it so much."

Brock walked up to the litter of corpses and began stepping in between the bodies, red blood painting his shoes. His Onix began moving the bodies to the side as it slithered along the cave floor, allowing Red and the Pokemon to pass along without need to step over them. After finding the rut that was now holding blood they walked until they came across another ladder tunnel.

However, while Red could see light bulbs in it, he could also make out a revving, engine sound emitting from the tunnel. There were also muffled cries of what may have been pain. Beyond that, there were more human-like noises.

"That," Brock said. "Is where the Rockets still are."

Brock took a Pokeball from his waist.

"Return your Pokemon to their Pokeballs so we can hurry and get down there fast," the gym leader said. "I can't guarantee we'll survive but the Rockets have been blocking our communication in other cities so we're the only soldiers at this point."

"Sounds like a losing battle," Leta said.

"Depending on how you look at it," Brock said. "But these are the last remaining Rockets. With just enough luck, we can clear them out."

"I'd like to see Blue try and do that," Red said. "I'll be sure to hold this over his head whenever I get back to Pallet Town."

The gym leader rolled his eyes before returning his three Rock-type Pokemon to their Pokeballs. Red did the same. Instead of slowly climbing down, Brock climbed down a little ways before jumping down. Red did the same, jumping beside Brock before observing his surroundings with light bulbs fixated on the ceiling this time rather than the cave floor.

The sight was even more horrifying than the bodies piled up on the second floor of Mt. Moon. People in Rocket uniforms were manning machines that were built into both the floor and ceiling of the cave. The lower half at the bottom was like a conveyor belt but with metallic straps that held Geodude down. The Geodude were suspended by the metallic straps on table-like structures with thick metal legs.

The upper half of the machines were large metal drills that drove themselves into the top of the Geodude as they were immobilized by the restraints, held to the ceiling by thick metal poles. The dozens of Geodude prevented from moving by the fetters were screaming like they were being tortured. Their bodies were usually half gone by this point, with the stone contents being spilled out of their bodies from the drills being scooped into metal containers beneath them.

Pokemon ore extraction machines. Red recognized. I've heard of it but never seen it. Rock Pokemon are naturally incubators of precious minerals that can't otherwise be found in nature. The minerals are not only very strong but incredibly versatile to the point the world economy runs on it. I know that one of Brock's biggest responsibilities is maintaining these machines and capturing Rock-type Pokemon to extract minerals out of. Team Rocket must have forced out the local trainers from Pewter City and Brock's gym to use the minerals for illegal profit.

Not only were there extraction machines but large towers that reached from the cave floor, almost to the top of the ceiling that had a sharp point at the upper end. There were speakers and attached the machines and various metal stems protruding from the side. Many Rockets were talking into the speakers before the two trainers arrived.

And those are transmission and jamming devices, trans-jams for short, that are specially made by Team Rocket. Red recognized from seeing them on the news. They're used by the Rockets to both facilitate communication between other Rocket grunts and jam communication between radio and television stations. This way they're the only ones who can communicate with one another.

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Red looked to the very center of the room to find that there was a cubbyhole-like structure that stretched from the bottom of the cave to the top from. The structure was equipped with dozens of wires that connected to all the devices in the floor of the cave, whether they be the trans-jams or extraction machines. In the estimated dozen cavities Magnemite and Voltorb stored within it gave off electricity that was transferred into the metal prods to the interior sides. Glass walls were in front of the Electric-type Pokemon as the electricity they generated was transferred into the wires that powered every device in the room.

And Pokemon power storages. He recognized. Electric-types being the main source of power in the Kanto region means they have to be near or connected to the machines needed to power. They're usually in the center of towns and sometimes they're unwilling hosts like the Geodude are or they're obeying their trainers.

Upon touching down on the cave floor, the Rockets turned to the two trainers. Red and Brock immediately called out their Pokemon. The six of them appeared in a flash of light, all looking determined and fierce. However, the two dozen or so Rocket trainers immediately sent out quite a variety of Pokemon, not limited to Water-types like Golduck and Wartortle, Grass-types like Bellsprout and Oddish and Poison-types like Grimer and Koffing. Red tried to calm himself in the face of such overwhelming odds but couldn't help quivering in fear.

Calm down. He told himself. You got yourself into this. Brock can pick up the extra weight...just think...if you survive this and word gets back to Pallet Town you'll be a hero.

"So the gym leader wasn't dead after all," a female grunt said. "Seems as though we did an inefficient job. This won't bode well for the boss."

"Are you kidding me?!" a male grunt said. "This is just an opportunity to get promoted! If we take down a gym leader our salaries are going to triple...and that's on the low side!"

"Yeah!" another grunt that couldn't be seen said. "Come on...we killed his lackies...we'll kill him just as easily!"

"I can't make him cry and beg for mercy like I did that one girl!" a male Rocket grunt in the front said. "I made her do me before I slit her throat open!"

Red turned to see Brock's face was livid with anger. He also found that the light in the cave was growing brighter. He turned down to see that Cinder's tail flame was burning incredibly bright and had nearly doubled in length. It was something that happened when the Charmander got angry, like witnessing Red's friends tease and bully him.

The Lizard Pokemon's eyes were locked onto the Geodude being drilled into by the extraction machines, the Fire-type's expression furious. He found Leta's expression sad as she hovered near her trainer, her red eyes full of sorrow and pity for the Pokemon being hurt in front of her. The Nidoran looked slightly angry but his expression was usually like that.

"That girl you violated," Brock said. "Was a gym trainer of mine who was the daughter of my best friend. For your sakes you guys better kill me because I'm going to do worse to you than you could ever dream of."

"Then come at us," a large male grunt said.

"With pleasure!" Cinder said.

The Charmander opened his mouth to launch several fireballs double the size of a basketball from his mouth at the Rocket grunts. Some of their Pokemon were hit by the Ember while some of the grunts themselves caught on fire. Red looked down at his first Pokemon in shock as he had almost never attacked a human before.

"All of you!" Brock yelled. "Rock Tomb!"

The gym leader's Pokemon wasted no time in the execution of the attack. The Onix lowered its head before slamming its lower jaw into the ground, the moss covered Golem stomped both of its short feet and the Kabutops stabbed the end of its sickles into the ground to pierce it. A different set of flat, pointed stones burst from each of the Pokemon before gliding across the cave floor to leave a trail in their wake.

This immediately caused the Rocket grunts to disperse as they and many of their Pokemon were struck as a result. However, many of the rocks were blown away by the Water attacks. A Golduck exerted water from its palms before manipulating the liquid in midair to quickly erode the stones. A Wartortle and Slowpoke simply opened their mouths to fire a jet of water that tore to pieces the stone. While the Rock Tomb had surely killed many enemy Pokemon, soon after the attack had been performed all of the stones were destroyed by Water moves.

However, Red took advantage of the fact the Rockets were focused mostly on fending off the gym leader. He quickly looked around to find that the grunts in front of him were packed closely together, standing either beside or in front of the machines they had been manning. He knew he could use their close proximity as an edge in the fight.

Back fighting Pokemon in the wild. Red remembered. I learned that Pokemon in swarms are more susceptible to long range moves since there's so little space leaving them no chance to escape. I'll have Leta paralyze them and Cinder to burn them.

"Leta, Stun Spore!" Red yelled. "Cinder, Ember! Nidoran, stay back and use a physical attack afterward!"

His Butterfree soared above the heads of the Rockets. Some of the grunts' Pokemon launched ranged attacks at the Bug and Flying-type, the Koffing and Grimer launching Sludge at her for instance. However, Leta nimbly avoided each and every pile of toxic black goo as she flapped her wings from overhead. The yellow powder that was flung from her wings spread across the cave to encompass the majority of the Rockets and their Pokemon.

The Rockets and their Pokemon scrambled to get out of the way as the Stun Spore spread over them, but the majority either stopped before colliding into one another or ran into the person next to them. Upon being touched by a light amount of the powder, those it had fallen on began twitching uncontrollably before freezing in place. Many of the humans, after coming into contact with it, fell over to the cave floor, writhing in irritation. The majority of their Pokemon were affected as well, usually standing in place and unable to move for the most part.

Those that hadn't been affected were subject to Cinder's Ember. A Bellsprout and Oddish that hadn't been hit with the Stun Spore were engulfed in the flame the Charmander had spat out. The Grass-types were immediately charred to ashes upon being afflicted by the super effective attack, their remains little more than extremely dried plants. Red was surprised by the level of his Pokemon's power.

He's experiencing his ability, Blaze. He thought. It's triggered only in a state of high emotions, such as the user's life nearing its end. The normally gentle and meek Charmander I knew is gone so long as he sees innocents being hurt.

The Ember was strong enough to kill a Koffing and Grimer that had also avoided the Stun Spore. The Grimer was lit on fire after being hit with the fireball and screamed in pain before his liquid-like body just evaporated. The Koffing simply exploded upon being struck, a foul smell spreading across the area after it burst under such heat.

While Cinder was enacting his deep seated hatred out on the enemy, Red's Nidoran was fighting off Pokemon that got too close. It reared up its legs and began kicking a Rattatta that had gotten too close before killing it with its lengthy, poisonous horn. The two attacks worked well on a Raticate that charge at it, but merely incapacitated the evolved form of Rattatta rather than kill it.

However, the next opponent that attacked them was a far cry from the easy pickings the others had been. A Geodude, most likely caught in this very cave, rolled forward after tucking its arms in. It crashed into the Nidoran, tossing her to the side before she landed next to Cinder. The Charmander turned away from shooting Ember at his opponents before turning to his downed friend.

"Oh no!" he yelled. "Hurzer!"

Oh, yeah, right, so that's his name. Red realized. I remember now. If I call him that, he might be more compliant.

The Nidoran tried to get up before the Geodude slammed its fist into the Poison-type. The Mega Punch made the Nidoran immediately crumple under the pressure of such force and it wound up forming a red bruise. Not wanting to waste a Pokemon, Red returned the Nidoran to his Pokeball. When the Geodude turned to set its sight on Cinder, Red knew the Charmander's only hope for survival was the move he learned during the three months of training before facing Brock.

"Metal Claw!" the trainer ordered.

The Lizard Pokemon held both hands forward before flames engulfed them. When the fire dissipated, Cinder's hands were coated in red hot metal that glowed from the heat they'd been forged in. The Geodude moved forward to punch the Charmander but he merely side-stepped the attack with his superior speed before raking his newly armored hands across the Rock-type's body.

As strong a defense the Rock-type had, the attack scraped away the target's outer shell of stone as Steel-type super affected it due to being a harder substance. The Geodude screamed in pain as part of his chest had been torn away to reveal a substance of soil mixed with sand that formed its innards. Cinder plunged his steel armored claws into the Pokemons exposed body, killing it instantly.

Red was feeling pretty confident in the battle going in their favor before he heard a loud squeal overhead in pain. He looked up to see the Butterfree's wings were drenched in black liquid and she was flying back towards her trainer. Just as Leta neared Red, she fell from above, squirming in the dark poisonous liquid that pooled beneath her. Cinder and Red stared over her in shock.

"What happened?!" Red screamed.

"Poi-poison-types," she said with a cough. "Some still...left hit me...from below…"

She tried to inhale deeply before coughing again.

"All…" Leta said. "All out of Stun Spore...used it all...to paralyze...them…"

Red ground his teeth in frustration while Cinder shook his head in horror.

This is bad. He thought. As strong as Cinder's gotten in the last few months, I can't rely on just one Pokemon in this crowd of trainers.

He fumbled with the Pokeballs at his waist, growing nervous as the pressure was beginning to build up in his mind. He took one of the Pokeballs from his waist and tried to return Leta to it but when he clicked the ball a third time he found it didn't work. Red looked down at it to find it was empty.

It's Cinder's. He thought.

In his panicked state, he tossed it over his shoulder before reaching for the Butterfree's. The trainer took his Bug-type's Pokeball out and returned Leta to it. He stood back up, only to find another Pokemon advancing forward. He looked to see on in horror to find it was a Machoke. The large, bluish-gray humanoid Pokemon's footsteps were strong enough to be felt beneath the trainer's feet. The Fighting-type's shockwaves it was creating by merely walking caused the Pokeball the trainer had thrown over his shoulder to roll away. Red began shaking in fear, staggering backward as Cinder stepped forward to glare down at his opponent.

"Darn it," he said under his breath. "Of all the Pokemon that Leta missed...it had to be a Fighting-type this strong."

Red was beginning to panic. And if there was one thing he knew about himself was that when he panicked, he couldn't trust himself anymore. Everything he knew about Pokemon and battling was beginning to leave his mind. The only reason he had entered the Rockets' lair in this cave was because Red was sure that Brock would do all the heavy lifting and that he would get credit for assisting the gym leader. Now, the trainer was paralyzed with fear with Cinder being the only one who determined enough to stand up to the Machoke.

After putting himself between his trainer and the Superpower Pokemon, Cinder opened his mouth to fire a ball of flame at the Machoke. The Fighting-type merely swatted the Ember away, the fire dissipating upon the slap. The Charmander shook his head in disbelief at sight, the Machoke's hands only slightly burned from the attack.

"It must be very well trained!" Cinder shouted. "Routinely taught how to avoid common attacks!"

The Fire-type was the only one thinking rationally as Red was ready to scram. However, just as he got up in order to flee, he turned back. In that split second where the Machoke was running forward and trying to punch at the Charmander with the Fire-type barely being able to dodge its attacks.

"Run Red!" he cried.

As the Charmander turned to his trainer, the Machoke took advantage of his diverted attention to land a Mega Punch near him. While the Lizard Pokemon was able to jump away at the last moment, the shockwave of the fist hitting the cave floor in front of him caused him to be sent skidding backward. The Machoke then kept advancing toward the Fire-type.

If it had been any other Pokemon, Red would have ran. But he couldn't leave behind Cinder. The Charmander was his only friend from such a young age. Between the ages of ten and fifteen, when he cried from the neighborhood kids asking in jest how such a weak trainer could have the strongest trainer in Kanto as his father, Cinder was there.

After Green rejected his romantic advances and said Blue was the only boy she loved and Red was crying, Cinder was there. And Cinder didn't need to wait to be healed from a battle with Blue to cheer Red up while his trainer was crying, the Charmander hugging him despite the exhaustion. Cinder never called him a coward or crybaby, even though Red knew he was, and always tried to cheer him up.

He never abandoned me, so why should I do that to him? He wondered.

Red ran forward and, just as the Machoke attempted to punch the Fire-type again, the trainer barely managed to scoop up Cinder in his arms as the Fighting-type missed. The trainer ran in the opposite direction of the Fighting-type, the Lizard Pokemon's tail flame being close enough for Red to feel the heat of it. The Charmander tried to wriggle his way out of his trainer's arms.

"I told you to get away!" Cinder cried.

"If you die I have no one!" Red yelled. "Don't ever tell me to flee again!"

Red could feel the footsteps of the Machoke approaching, the ground rumbling as it did. He jumped to his right to hit the wall of the cave to his side as the wind whipped up by the Machoke's Mega Punch blew his hair back. The Fighting-type now had Red cornered as his back was literally to the wall. He cradled Charmander in his arms, readying to throw the Lizard Pokemon out of the way.

"Please run away!" Red yelled. "Find yourself a better trainer than me! Find Blue, if you can! Find my dad! Just-just don't throw yourself away for me!"

"Are you that suicidal?!" Cinder yelled.

"No!" he said. "I just can't let my best friend die in such a dingy place as this!"

And that's when it happened. The trainer could feel something leave his body and enter into the Pokemon in his arms. The only thing he could describe it as was an intense force that felt as strong as a tidal wave but as gentle as a summer breeze. Red then began to feel overwhelmed by a heat emanate from Cinder.