Pokèmon: The Anglos Region

Chapter 16: The Mountain Pass

Jett spent his morning getting Luna's cart prepared while she went with Cassandra to get ownership transferred.

"Hey Brownie," he said as he stroked the Mudsdale's mane and hitched him up to the cart. "Ready to get back on the road?"

Brownie gave a whinny of excitement and began trotting in place.

"That's what I thought," he smiled. "You've been cooped up in these stables for far too long haven't you? Well, don't worry," he said as he pushed the stable doors open, letting the sun into the barn, "Soon you'll be on the road and moving again! Just have to wait for Luna to finish up with the head Administrator and we'll be on our way. We're packed, we have supplies, and we have gear and clothes fit for the mountains. Good thing she has a strong pack horse like you with her," he smiled as he brushed up Brownie's coat. 

They walked the cart out into the open square and waited for Luna and Cassandra to come out.

It didn't take long and they descended the steps together. Luna had her arm supported in a sling and Cassandra had a set of books floating in front of her as she glided down the stairs. 

"What's with the books?" Jett asked as he double checked Brownie's straps.

"Before we left I asked the Administrator if they had any spare books on Alola and Alola specific pokemon. I was given an incubator ball with an Alola pokemon in it and no idea which one it is. I only have about a week before it's ready to open so I need to prepare myself."

"Well, let's have them then," he said as he took them and slid them into the cart and closed them in a cupboard.

Angel hopped up in the back while he did so and laid down. Grovyle hopped on top of the wagon and began basking. Cassandra sat up front with Luna as Jett helped her get into the driver's seat. 

"Can you drive a cart?" he asked Cassandra.

"I have not but I can also speak to your Mudsdale directly and understand him better if things go too crazy for me to handle."

"Well, I guess that works too, yeah..."

Luna giggled as she took hold of Brownie's reigns and ushered him forward with Jett walking beside them.

Within a few minutes they were at the East gate and the Gemstone Mountains rose high on the horizon. Snow and ice covered the very peaks of the rock formations and the one road that the region had that traveled through unscathed lay in the smallest valley nestled slightly more to the south of the largest landmass.

Luna looked on in awe. Knowing her destination and seeing it loom ahead of her were two completely different feelings. She suddenly felt very small.

"These mountains were famous at one point for having numerous amounts of gemstones scattered throughout their caves and valleys. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, you name it, you could find it in there," Jett started explaining. "Rumor is that the mines have been exhausted of their resources and so there's none left. Of course there's just as many rumors stating the opposite, that there's more left to be found."

"Do you think there's still gems left?" Luna asked.

"Probably, if I had to guess. Those mountain ranges are huge and the mines were abandoned after too many started collapsing randomly."

"How many is too many?"

"That's actually a heavily discussed topic in some places. The amount that started collapsing isn't indicative of a natural occurrence. Some believe it was terrorist attacks, some think that they started encroaching upon some hidden away pokemon, some believe it's ghosts of past miners, and so on and on. There was an increase in seismic activity whenever it started happening initially, but that doesn't say much without knowing their origin. No matter what the  case, further mining has been banned. Both as a caution to loss of life, and as a sort of 'just in case' measure in case they actually ARE trespassing on some unknown pokemon's territory."