Frontline Mission #16

The ground stopped shaking after a few seconds as small rocks fell from the ceiling. Jackson didn’t look too phased by the shaking considering all the time he had once spent in the mines while his sister, Amber, looked rather terrified as did her pokemon Lumi. 

The siblings were currently venturing through the Brookfell mines which consisted of many corridors that had been created over decades of mining. Jackson, who had once worked in the mines, received word that there had been a lot of shaking and cave-ins lately. He attributed this to likely being from a pokemon. Amber had decided to tag along knowing Jackson’s history with the mines, although her brother had tried to discourage this.

“Alright, we’re good for now. The shaking was definitely below us and that way.” Jackson said as he pointed down the long hallway. Amber was nervous about getting closer to whatever was causing the shaking but nodded.

Jackson shone his flashlight down the tunnel as he began to walk with Atlas walking next to him. The noctyena’s ears were perked up so the trainer hoped he would be able to pick up any sounds signaling a possible cave in.

This time it didn’t take much longer to hear the rumbling as the siblings made their way down the corridor. It now being louder confirmed Jackson’s thoughts that they were getting closer to whatever was causing it. More rocks fell from the ceiling and clattered to the ground around them. Luckily they were all still pretty small but the danger was only increasing the further they went.

Jackson kept walking even as the ground continued to shake for a few moments. Amber was getting increasingly nervous but wasn’t about to leave her brother alone in the mines. 

As the siblings reached an intersection they saw a ladder leading to a lower level. “We have to go down.” Jackson said as he looked over to his sister. He held out his pokeball until Atlas disappeared back into it. He then went over to the ladder, gripping the metal rungs as he climbed down. The trainer had to go slowly, his prosthetic leg making the climb rather difficult. Occasionally it slipped off a rung as he tightened his grip to avoid falling.

Once Jackson reached the end of the latter he threw out Atlas’ pokeball so the noctyena reappeared. He then waited as his sister climbed down the ladder. She had less trouble moving down than Jackson she was still tightly gripping the rungs nervously. She had followed her brother’s lead with putting Atlas in his pokeball while they climbed down and tossed Lumi’s as the pokemon reappeared.

The ground began to shake beneath them, this time being much louder and the shaking being of a greater magnitude. Rocks fell from the ceiling, this time being large enough to cause injury. Atlas had to use dark pulse on some of the rocks, scattering them into tiny pieces before they could hit any of the group.

“Good job.” Jackson praised his pokemon as the shaking finally stopped. After a few seconds they could hear the sound of a pokemon that seemed pretty close to them. Jackson looked towards Amber once the sound had stopped, knowing his sister was able to recognize the calls of a lot more pokemon than he could.

“I think… It's a steelix.” She said after thinking for a few moments and Jackson nodded. He began to move briskly down the corridor in the direction the call had come from.

Once they got close enough the two trainers could see a break in the terrain. Piles of rock had built up on either side and they could see a tunnel on each side of the hallway. The shape of it made it clear that it had been made by a pokemon. The size also added more evidence to the pokemon possibly being a steelix.

Before either of them could begin to discuss the discovery the ground shook. This time it was much more powerful and they could hear a rumble growing closer. Atlas had to again use dark pulse to destroy falling rocks. 

The two siblings could see a light gray metallic looking shape cross in front of them. “Atlas use hyperspace fury!” Jackson said to his pokemon, having to raise his voice over the rumbling.

Atlas immediately followed the command as it used the move on the steelix, causing the pokemon to let out a surprised and angry sound. Amber had somewhat retreated backwards with Lumi. The scientist wasn’t exactly as experienced in battle as her brother. For the most part she didn’t even participate in battles so she could focus more on her research.

The steelix retreated from the tunnel it was created as it let out another angry call, this time facing directly towards Atlas. Amber was trying to avoid shaking from nervousness as rocks fell around them. Meanwhile Jackson looked confident and almost calm as they stared down the enemy. Now that they had found the cause of the cave ins they would have to stop it. To Jackson this clearly meant defeating the steelix.

The wild pokemon used iron tail as it swung around in the small space, aiming its metal tail right towards Atlas. The noctyena was just barely able to dodge the attack as he jumped over it.

“Alright Atlas use hyperspace fury again!” Jackson called out. His pokemon created small orbs of energy and then sent it flying towards the steelix until the move collided with the other pokemon. It shook its head as the move hit and sent the pokemon sliding back.

“Wanna help out here?!” Jackson shouted to his sister as he looked back over her shoulder. Amber was frozen in fear but tried to snap out of it as her brother called back to her. Lumi wasn’t exactly a well versed battle pokemon but she supposed that the pokemon could help out Atlas. The wild steelix did look like a formidable opponent as it stared down at Atlas.