Pokemon: Dreams Come True

Chapter 47: Underground City

We descended deep into the ground, the tenebrous haze that stemmed from the absence of lighting engulfing us.

"Okay, this is probably a bad time to mention this... but I hate tunnels," I said, not timidly, but warily.

Despite the lack of light, I could still see Trinity raise one eyebrow. "I didn't expect you to be scared of anything."

"I'm not scared," I said, "it just makes me kind of nervous, you know? Like we can be ambushed at any time."

Brock nodded. "The earth is a good place to hide in. But that means being trapped with the creatures that lurk in them."

Steelix was slithering smoothly, dust trailing behind him from the speed he was going at. The tunnel wasn't dirt... Well, it was, but it was hardened. Not like rock, though, which was strange. The ground was also jagged, making it impossible for a human to go down by themselves without being impaled by the stalactites on ground, on the walls, and the ceiling. Because Steelix's rocky body was so sturdy, he was easily able to pave a path through the earth.

I noticed that the light shining down our backs was waning rapidly. I glanced behind us and noticed that the hole we came from was closing in like skin repairing a wound.

"Well, I guess we're not going back the way we came from," I grumbled.

"Not without smashing through it, at least," Trinity agreed.

Brock's Steelix was strong, sure, but I doubted it would be able to break through such strong material. The Steelix I captured was much bigger than him, so that's probably why it was able to break through it.

Eventually, when we thought we would have to descend into total darkness, a flickering light in front of us caught our attention. The more Steelix moved forward, the stronger the light got.

"A light source? This far down?" Brock looked troubled. "There's no way..."

We went through a wide opening that led us into... yet another tunnel. But this one was much more spacious and completely straight, unlike the slanted one we emerged from. But the weirdest part was the line of lanterns that hung from both sides of the walls. The metal was completely rusted, but the flames were burning brightly. They were an eerie purple color.

"Hey, don't those look like Will-O-Wisp?" I wondered.

"Will-O-Wisp can burn forever unless the user decides not to," Brock informed.

"So can there be Ghost-type Pokemon here?" Trinity said, frowning. I could tell she was thinking about the last time we encountered a place infested with Ghost-types.

"No," Brock shook his head. "The flames can burn forever, but no Pokemon can live underground for so long except for Rock- and Ground-types."

"What about the humans?"

"Unless they get out of this place to get supplies or have a way to sustain themselves, then I doubt there's a human population this deep down. If they were to ascend the way the Pokemon did, the people living near Grampa Canyon would have known."

My eyes widened. "Then that means only Pokemon live here."

Brock nodded grimly. "And they're attacking the surface."

"And of course we were the ones sent to investigate this," Trinity said wryly.

"Ancient civilizations with bloodthirsty Pokemon?" I mused. "Eh, sounds pretty normal, considering our luck."

This tunnel was shorter than the preceding one, and so we exited it quicker than before...

The three of us released one collective gasp. We found ourselves in a wide, cavernous area—one that extended for miles upon miles. Lights burned brightly from the distance, tendrils of radiance covering it all. Buildings carved from chunks of stones littered the area, making something like a city. Crystals hung from various stones, giving the place an ethereal feeling.