30: Springing the Trap

It was a long, exhausting hike, but I made it to the highest point of the aptly named Holehills. The place is peppered with openings. Some of which I think connect together to create tunnels. I stick to the random rocks and boulders scattered around, using them as cover to hide myself from whoever might be looking for me. Because they will undoubtedly be looking for me.

“You won’t get away with this.” I hear Thunder say. That means I must be close!

“Will you just shut up?!” Toxicroak yells. Frick. He’s being guarded. Of course he’s being guarded. I sneak a quick look. Apparently his cage is a small stone hut with bars over the entrance. Simple, but effective, apparently.

“Why should I? There’s no reason for me to stop. I’ll keep talking for as long as I’d like.” There must be a way to distract Toxicroak long enough for me to bail Thunder out… What if I make a noise and lure him away? That might work. I pick up a sizable rock and toss it a short ways away.

“Look, you little runt, if you don’t shut your mouth in the next ten seconds…” The sizable thunk of rock on rock interrupts his threat. “Huh? Who’s there!” A second of silence passes, I don’t come out because I need him to come to me. 

“You’d better scram if you know what’s good for you.” He gets up and goes to investigate the source of the sound. Now’s my chance! I leap up and coil my vines around his neck, nice and tight. Toxicroak struggles and does his best to get me off. But, miraculously, I hold on long enough for him to pass out and collapse. I take care to make sure he’s not dead. He may want me dead, but that doesn’t mean I should stoop to that level. I check for a heartbeat. After a bit of searching (Pokemon anatomy is quite different from human anatomy) I find part of the chest where I can feel the muscular organ pumping the blood through his body. He’s alive. Good. Now for Thunder. I move as fast as my battered body will let me to Thunder’s cage. Wait… He’s… Still talking?

“Alex and the rest of New Hope are going to come for me. And when they do, you’re gonna be the one in a cage.”

“Thunder? It’s me. Alex. I’m here to get you out.” Somethings wrong… When I finally get close enough to see inside the cage, the reason becomes clear. That’s not Thunder in the cage. That’s a frism. A frism with his voice being rehashed. “…oh, fricking heck…” I realize too little too late that they have me right where they want me.

Sure enough, Munna comes out from her hiding spot to address me. As does the rest of her gang. “I overestimated you. I was concerned that you’d be far more cautious. Especially in your wounded state. But no… You just walked right in.”

“Well, maybe that was the plan.”

“Terrible plan. You know what happens next, right?”

“Yeah. This is the part where you let my friend go.”

“And why should I do that?” 

I can’t help but smirk a little. “Oh, that’ll be obvious very, very soon.”

Her gaze immediately becomes suspicious. “So you know something that we don’t? Care to share?”

“One word. Hydreigon.” And with that, a roar echoes across the sky. The roar of my newest ally. “If I were you, I’d start running.” Dragon beams start raining from the sky as my assailants scramble for some form of cover, giving me the perfect opportunity to free my friend. Though finding him is the tricky part. Well, as it turns out, it’s not as hard as I first anticipated. I spot electric discharges coming from one of the nearby deeper holes. It’s probably a safe bet that Thunder is trying to signal whoever is out there for help.

I rappel down the hole using my vines, landing a bit rough. I wince in pain. Dang it… I really need to be careful! 

“Who’s there? Are you friendly?” Thunder’s hopeful voice echoes in the cavernous hole.

“Absolutely! Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Alex?! You came back for me!”

“Of course I did! You’re my friend. And friends stick by each other no matter how bad things get. Can you spark a bit? I can’t see you, it’s too dark down here.” Almost immediately, a yellow light appears in the darkness. It’s Thunder, tied up to a wooden post. “I’ll get you out, don’t worry.” I rush to his side. When I get within radius of the light, Thunder stares at me in shock.

“Arceus, Alex! What happened to you?!” What is he… Oh. My injuries.

“It’s a long story. I’ll explain later.” I quickly get to work, using my rather sharp leaf tail to slice open the ropes. “Going back up is not the best idea. I probably should have thought that through…”

“Follow me! When my eyes adjusted down here I saw that this hole goes right into a whole cave system. We can make our escape that way.”

“You have the light, Thunder. Lead on.”

“There’s natural light ahead!” I exclaim. “We’re almost out!” I’m forced to take back my words almost immediately. We were back in the open all right. But we were also at the edge of another cliff. “Well this is déjà vu…”

“What?” Before I can even begin to answer Thunder, I see our attackers behind us. Purugly, the Gigalith, and Salamence have cornered us

“Well, you didn’t get very far, did you?” Purugly taunts. “Well, I applaud you for your mediocre effort. But this is where it ends.” No… No, there’s a way out of this… There’s always a way out! Wait… No, that’s suicide… Unless…

“Thunder, on my mark, we jump off the cliff.”

“Alex?! Have you lost your mind?!”

“I’m beginning to wonder myself…”

“We’ll break our necks from the fall!”

“Well they’ll happily break them for us. But I need you to trust me, Thunder. This might be our last chance.”

“Salamence,” Purugly begins. I glance up briefly. Hydreigon is coming in for a dive bomb. He won’t reach us in time though. But this may buy him a bit more time. “Kill them.” Salamence begins inhaling, reading dragon breath.

“….Now!” I quickly turn around and jump. Thankfully, Thunder does the same. And thankfully Hydreigon is clued into the plan as well. He quickly adjusts his heading to mid the cliff face and goes straight for the two of us. His side mouths grab hold of the scruff of Thunder’s neck and my “collar.” He then quickly pulls up to a horizontal position. We are now flying away. I breathe a sigh of relief. “That… Actually worked… I can’t believe that actually worked…”

“That was quite the stunt you pulled.” Hydreigon says. “For a second there I thought you had given up.”

“Not yet I haven’t.”

“Uh, guys?” Thunder says nervously. “We’ve got company!”

“Company? What are you-oh crap!” It’s clear what Thunder was referring to. Salamence is now airborne and in pursuit.