Pokemon Heroes: Sinnoh Saga [Book 1]

Chapter 18: In the Caves of 204

"I know I say this a lot, but I learned something else on my travels—but that's the point of these memoirs, to teach you everything I've learned—it's that caves hold many secrets. In fact, I believe that about half of the secrets out there in this Pokémon World come from caves, and the fact that no one has ever explored every corner of one. The first cave I ever entered I encountered two Pokémon that were supposed to be dead for millions of years, and then learned that herds of their species still exist. In this cave, I not only found a Skull Fossil belonging to an extinct Cranidos, I discovered that Pokémon that look harmless can actually be quite dangerous."

Sam, Alyssandra, Niya and Jeremy looked at the huge cliff face and the cave that sat in the centre. The grassy, flat area at the top of the cliff was where the cave led, and the path above would take the group to Floaroma Town.

"So, this is the Ravaged Path?" asked Alyssandra, also eyeing the scenery.

Jeremy nodded. "Yeah," he said, "I wonder why they call it that."

"Well, if I remember correctly from when I was travelling," started Niya, "It's because the cave inside is ravaged. It's completely mangled, it looks like a heard of Tauros rampaged through the place, and then someone set off a group of Electrode."

"How did it end up that way?" wondered Sam, "Caves don't just ravage themselves. Even cave-ins don't do that much damage."

"There are two theories," explained Niya, "The first is that many Trainers have battles inside the path with wild Pokémon and with each other. The second theory says that there's a herd of wild Rhyhorn living in the tunnel."

"Well, I hope that it's the first one and not the second," said Jeremy as the group walked towards the cave, "Oh! Before I go into the cave, I want to transfer that Luxio I caught yesterday into my PC for the professor."

Jeremy pulled a Poké Ball from his bag and held it in his hand as he searched through his Pokétch for the PC application.

"I thought you were going to keep that Luxio?" asked Sam, "Didn't you say that you wanted it on your team?"

Jeremy nodded. "Yeah, but it seemed a little thin for a Luxio," he explained, "It just didn't seem healthy, so I want Professor Rowan to take a look at it for me. That way I know if it's healthy or not to take with me, and if not, I can get it healed."

Alyssandra looked at Jeremy impatiently, then groaned slightly. "All right, hurry though," said Alyssandra, "I want to get to Floaroma Town as soon as possible!"

Sam laughed. "Calm down, Lyss," he said, "Your contest doesn't start for another four days, and we'll be at Floaroma by nightfall. You have nothing to worry about."

"I know, but I want to get there for the Festival of Honey tomorrow!" she exclaimed, "I want to register before it closes, so I can participate."

"Why would you want to participate in that?" asked Sam.

"Well, it's a good opportunity to catch Pokémon," added Niya, "I've attended the festival before. They use honey to attract Bug Pokémon to specific trees, and you can catch them, as many as you like. It works similar to the Safari Zones in Kanto, Johto or Hoenn, or the Great Marsh in Pastoria City."

Sam thought it through for a moment, watching Jeremy as the Poké Ball started to glow red and turned into a red beam—similar to a Pokémon going into a Poké Ball—and disappeared into the black sensor of the Pokétch.

"All right, fine," he acquiesced, "We have the time between now and the contest, and I would like to start catching Pokémon. Especially some Bug Pokémon; never caught those before. Maybe I'll catch a Beedrill."