The tunnel eventually opened up, not into another cramped passage, but into a dark space.
It was unnervingly quiet, the sound of their boots on the stone floor echoed too loudly.
"Turn off the torches," Alex whispered.
"What? You said...." Jax started to protest.
"Turn them.....Off." Alex's voice was commanding. "There's light ahead, fire will just give away our position."
Grumbling, the two thugs waited for some time before extinguishing their torches. As their eyes adjusted, they saw it.
Far ahead, down a sloping natural slide, a soft, ethereal blue glow pulsed rhythmically.
They crept forward, hiding behind stones that twisted up from the ground like teeth.
When they reached the edge of the ridge, Jax gasped and even Alex felt a flicker of awe beneath his cynical shell.
The cavern was massive and the ceiling was studded with hundreds of glittering shards, raw Moon Stones creating a perfect, artificial night sky and in the center of the vast chamber lay a massive meteorite, a cratered rock the size of a house, pulsating with a deep, lunar heartbeat.
But it wasn't uninhabited.
Dozens of small, pale creatures were moving around the meteorite, they were bipedal, pinkish-white, with curled ears and small, vestigial wings.
[ Pokémon: Clefairy ]
[ Level: 18 - 24 ]
[ Status: Ritualistic ]
They weren't the bouncing, happy plush toys from the anime. In the dim light, their eyes glowed with a reflective, shine which was predatory and alien.
They moved in perfect unison, waving their fingers, drawing energy from the meteorite.
"Clefairies," Kruger whispered, sounding disappointed.
"Pink puffballs? That's the threat?"
"They look weak," Jax agreed, reaching for his Machop's ball. "Normal types, my Machop will snap them in half."
Alex watched them and analyzed the data.
In this time period, the world classified Clefairy as Normal type believing them to be just weird, doll like Pokemon with affinity to Moonstones.
But Alex knew the truth.
Fairy Type......
The Dragon Slayers.....
"Don't underestimate them," Alex warned quietly. "They channel cosmic energy and they aren't No..... You know what doesn't matter."
"Whatever," Jax sneered. "Hey, look at the big rock, that's gotta be worth a fortune. Let's clear the weirdos and grab a chunk."
Jax and Kruger stood up, they didn't have the patience for stealth.
"Machop! Karate Chop!"
"Mankey! Low Kick!"
The two Fighting-type Pokémon charged down the slope, roaring their battle cries. They slammed into the nearest group of Clefairies thinking that it should have been a massacre with fighting types beating normal ones.
Machop's hand glowed white and he chopped a Clefairy right on the shoulder.
Ping...
The sound wasn't flesh tearing, it sounded like hitting a pillow. The Clefairy stumbled back, but it didn't faint nor did they look that hurt.
[ Resistance Detected: Fairy resists Fighting]
"What?" Jax blinked. "That was a clean hit! Why is it still standing?"
The Clefairy turned with its black eyes narrowed, it didn't look cute anymore as it simply raised a finger.
Metronome.....
Alex watched intently, this was one of the moves that he is always interested in.... like what attack it brings..... finger wagged back and forth.
Flash....
A burst of fire erupted from the Clefairy's hand... Flamethrower.
"Whoa!" Jax dove out of the way as his Machop got burned. "It knows Fire moves?!"
The cavern erupted into chaos, the Pink puffballs stopped dancing and started defending their temple.
They didn't brawl but used space. They floated with Gravity, making the heavy Machop stumble and fired beams of pink energy....Moonblast that hit with the force of a cannonball.
"Wtf is that... they're using weird moves!" Kruger screamed as his Mankey got lifted into the air by Psychic.
Alex stayed in the shadows watching and scanning the chaos.
Most of the Clefairies were Black or Light Green aptitude which were generic.
But near the edge of the skirmish, one Clefairy was different, it wasn't attacking.
It was standing over a small pile of loose stones, guarding them. It looked sharper, its movements more precise.
[ Pokémon: Clefairy (Female) ]
[ Level: 20 ]
[ Aptitude: (Deep Yellow) ]
[ Ability: Magic Guard (Immune to indirect damage) ]
"Magic Guard," Alex's eyes lit up, that was a prize.... Immunity to Poison damage, Immunity to Life Orb recoil and immunity to Burn damages.
It was the perfect mon for a Chemist who specialized in turning the battlefield into a toxic wasteland.
"Nidorino," Alex whispered. "Target lock.
3 o'clock, the lone one by the rock."
"Poison is super effective against Fairy," Alex muttered himself. "But Jax and Kruger don't know that, to them, I'm just attacking a Normal type."
"Go.....Poison Jab. Clean shot."
Nidorino launched from the ridge moving like a shadow.
The battle below was a distraction where Jax was screaming commands, his Machop getting bombarded by Moonblasts.
The target Clefairy saw Nidorino coming so it raised a hand to cast metronome.
Too slow....
Nidorino didn't give it time as he closed the distance, his horn glowing with lethal purple sludge.
THWACK...
He struck the Clefairy in the chest and the result was catastrophic. The Fairy type's natural weakness to Poison turned the blow into a one-hit knockout, the Clefairy gasped, its pink fur stained purple, and collapsed instantly.
Alex was already there and tossed a Pokeball.
Bonk...
The ball sucked the Clefairy in.
Shake.....
Shake....
Click....
Alex snatched the ball and clipped it to his belt.
He looked at the pile of stones the Clefairy had been guarding, they were shards that had fallen from the main meteorite.
He grabbed a handful.
[ Item: Moon Stone (Grade A) ]
[ Item: Star Piece (Rare) ]
[ Item: Stardust (Crafting Material) ]
"Jackpot," Alex grinned.
A Grade A Moon Stone, very pure, this was the evolution key..... the good one.
"Ares! A little help here?!" Jax shrieked from the center of the room.
Alex looked up.
Jax and Kruger were surrounded and their Pokémon were exhausted. About twenty Clefairies were gathering energy for a combined attack and the main meteorite was glowing brighter, responding to their distress.
"Time to go," Alex decided.
He didn't want to fight the whole colony and he definitely didn't want to find out what happened when a Moon Stone meteorite fully activated.
"Use the Repels!" Alex shouted down at them. "Throw them at the ground!"
"What?"
"Do it! The smell confuses them!"
Jax grabbed a can of Max Repel from his belt and smashed it on the rocks, the pressurized chemical cloud hissed out..... acrid, stinging, and vile.
The Clefairies recoiled, covering their sensitive noses and the ritual chanting broke.
"Run!" Alex commanded.
He mounted Nidorino and bolted back up the ridge while Jax and Kruger scrambled after him, recalling their battered Pokémon and sprinting for the tunnel entrance.
They ran until their lungs burned, putting half a mile of dark tunnel between them and the clefairies.
When they finally stopped, collapsing against the walls, the silence returned.
"What..... what were those things?" Jax wheezed, clutching his knees.
"My Machop...his chops bounced off them."
"Space freaks," Kruger spat, checking a burn on his arm. "They used Weird moves, one time it was flamethrower and then it was water gun."
Alex leaned against Nidorino, checking his new items in the dark.
"They're just territorial," Alex said calmly.
"Did you get anything?" Jax asked, suspicious.
"A couple of dust rocks," Alex showed them the Stardust. "And I caught one of the runts."
He tapped the new Pokéball.
"Trash mob," Alex lied. "But maybe I can trade it to some girl at the base who likes cute things."
Jax laughed, buying the lie completely. "Yeah. Weirdass pink blob, stick to the Nidorino, man, that thing is a beast."
Alex smiled beneath his mask.
"Yeah," Alex agreed. "Useless."
He patted the ball containing his Clefairy.
"Let's get out of here," Alex said, pushing off the wall.
He checked his map.
[Sector 5 Depth: 40% ]
They were barely halfway down.
"And Jax? Kruger?"
"Yeah?"
"Next time," Alex said, his voice cold.
"When I say turn off the lights....you turn off the lights."
Authors Note:-
Well..... This was already edited, so posting was easy, I am kinda occupied right now, for my other fics, I will update right after i am clear.
So how WAS the chapter.
Enjoying it so far.
Also spoiler::: hehe... Nidorino evolved in the newer chapters .
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P a t r e o n . c o m / Aegis007
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