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A Winkle in Reality: Chapter 20.
🕑 Added 2025-07-28 15:00:19 +0000 UTCLast chapter in Pewter, for now at least. Who knows, I will probably be back to see Grant at some point. But we're off for Cerulean, after a last bit of training. Can't think of anything interesting that happens on the way there.
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Punchy nimbly stutter-stepped to the left to feint Sol out, letting the Growlithe sail past him with a white glowing paw while grabbing Betty out of the air and redirecting her towards her teammate. Sol was still in the middle of turning back around, only to catch over 300 pounds of screeching, flailing Dragon-Type straight to the side. His eyes bugged out of his head as the bony dome smacked him right in the ribs, sending both Pokémon rolling across the field in a pile of rough hide and fur.
Disentangling themselves, Betty roared at Sol while he rolled his eyes and huffed in response, ignoring her, something that only pissed her off more.
“Enough. Sol, go practice Flame Wheel. Betty, stop being a child. Dragon Breath, now.” I cut them off before shit could escalate. There weren't usually any problems between my team, all of them having known each other practically since hatching, but I didn't want to risk anything with tempers fraying as they were. Grant's Hitmonchan had been training them in Brick Break for close to an hour, and even the normally affable Sol had just about had enough.
Sol didn't have any problem with my decision, hurrying away from his overly dramatic comrade over to the other side of the same field we'd been using over the last week. It was five days after our Gym battle, and while the high had lasted the rest of the day, we'd quickly returned to business. I couldn't stay in Pewter forever, and I intended to squeeze Grant for everything he had.
Sol had made good progress with Brick Break, getting the attack to activate more often than not, though I still wouldn't be using it in battle quite yet. It probably had something to do with having Close Combat as an egg move, as the Fighting-Type energy seemed to come to him almost as easily as Fire-Type. As such, we'd been alternating between training with Punchy, alongside Betty, and getting him started on Flame Wheel since I was satisfied with his Ember, for now anyway.
I watched as he concentrated, small flames flickering to life from his mouth. The attack became more solid and larger, growing to cover most of his head before swiftly vanishing, much to the dog’s frustration.
I wasn't worried, though. Flame Wheel required more fire than anything else he'd used. Once he got the hang of it, we could start on the rolling part. I'd been going over the PokéDex at night and noticed that Growlithe could learn Agility. That would be our next project, and with any luck, we'd figure out a way to combine the two.
Near 100 pounds of flaming dog hurling at you at Mach speed sounded awesome.
And then, there was the problem child. I sighed as Betty slunk off, shooting dark looks at both Punchy and Sol. Getting back to training had made her happy for a couple of days, but Sol’s progress outpacing hers had brought her right back down, the little brat. I missed when she was a baby. So much easier to handle.
Less teeth, though.
“Come here.” I braced myself as the Bagon smacked into me, burrowing her head into my armpit and whining softly as she sulked.
“You'll get there, okay? Sol can't do anything as big as your Dragon Breath, so you still have the largest attack. You just aren't built for hand-to-hand, but you'll learn, so chin up, please?”
Betty perked up at remembering her favorite attack and ran off to start practicing. She hadn't quite managed anything on the level of what she pulled in Viridian Forest, but she still shot smug looks towards Sol in between 20-foot cones of green-ish blue flames bathing the grass.
Sheer Force was fucking scary.
Siren was a darling as always, merely gattling gunning Water Bullets at the trees. There really wasn't a lot that she could learn other than what she already had. There were TM's, but that shit was fucking expensive if you wanted anything good, and for anything other than Rock and Ground-Type attacks, I’d need to look somewhere other than Pewter.
As such, we were still trying to tweak Water Gun as much as possible. Since Water Bullets had been such a success, I hoped she’d be able to manage a water version of Ember. Essentially still Water Bullets, but released all at once, rather than one at a time.
“‘Ard at work already? Good! Youngsters these ‘ays, no work ethic. Ya ever become one of ‘em, I'll track ya down and smack ya around, ha!”
I snorted as Grant stopped beside me. “Good morning to you, too. Eat my ass.”
“Ya wish!” The bearded man patted the shoulder of his Hitmonchan as Punchy came over, before recalling the Fighting-Type. “So today's the day, eh?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, glancing up at the sky. It was still morning, but the sun was creeping ever higher. “Honestly, I should already have been off, but I wanted to say goodbye. For a senile dickhead, the last week hasn't been terrible.” And it was true. Despite the rocky start, I'd come to quite like Grant.
“Awww, ya gonna make me heart melt. Punchy's gonna be grumpy with ya gone. Been years since I've seen the ol’ bastard so energetic! Hopefully he ain't thinkin’ that I'll spar with ‘im, ha!”
“Nah, no fun beating up the elderly.”
“Elderly, am I? Can't argue with that, hahaha!”
His laughter trailed off while we watched my team finish the last bit of training. My host fidgeted beside me, something clearly on his mind, and it didn't take long before he couldn't hold himself back.
“Sure I can't tempt ya to stay a little longer? Give me a month and I'll have that Growlithe off yars ready for Close Combat.”
I chuckled but shook my head.
“Can't. Have badges to get, Pokémon to catch.” And things even more important.
“I guess…” he hesitated, yet kept going.”... house gonna be awful quiet again. Gotten used to havin’ a lad around again, even if it's a foul-mouthed lil’ shit like ya.”
“Awwww.” I patted him on the arm. “I'll come back and visit. Maybe it's time to move into a nursing home, though, if you're that lonely. Find a sweet old lady with no teeth to keep you company.”
He scoffed. “Nursin’ ‘ome, get the fuck outta ‘ere. I'd let Punchy take me ‘ead off before that shit.”
“Or you could call Bruno.” I still hadn't gotten that story, but it was clear that Grant missed his grandson.
Gazing off into the distance, he pulled at his beard in discomfort. “... that ship's sailed, I'm afraid. Too many things said, too much time passed…” he shook the melancholy off swiftly and held out his hand to me. “Enough ‘bout that. Mew watch over ya, Peri, and… don't be a stranger.”
I shook his hand. “I won't. You have my number as well, if you wanna talk. Thanks for everything, Grant.”
He patted my shoulder with a huff and turned around, power walking away. I watched him for a moment before whistling loudly to gather the team so I could recall them.
It was time to leave Pewter behind and head for a place I'd spent so fucking long thinking about.
Mt. Moon.
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I liked to think of myself as fairly smart. Not a genius, but comfortably above average intelligence, and most of my time in the Pokémon world had reinforced that.
‘Most’ was the keyword there. There had been times when emotions and ego got the better of me, leading to dumb choices.
As I gazed into the dark pit of the rocky cavern that served as the entrance to the main path through Mt. Moon, I was pretty sure I was about to make the same mistake.
The smart choice would be to head back through the wilderness to Pewter, even if it meant wasting another two days and getting the local police involved. Hell, even taking my paranoia into account and keeping the government out of it, it wouldn't take much to convince Grant to lend a hand. As soon as the old veteran heard that criminals were exploiting his ancestral land, he probably wouldn't even wait for me before taking off with a song in his heart.
I had options. Better options.
So why had I spent the past several days staying away from the main path, sneaking through the bush and avoiding Trainers to conserve our strength, keeping our morning and evening training light, all in preparation to lead a one-man assault against people who'd clearly demonstrated how dangerous they were and the depths to which they'd sink?
I sighed, fingers drumming against the Pokéballs on either side of my belt in a nervous rhythm. I was such a fucking idiot. If the definition of insanity was doing the same shit over and over again, expecting stuff to change, then I clearly belonged in a fucking padded cell.
Not that it was the actual definition of insanity, it was just an Einstein quote that people used because he was smart, completely ignoring the fact that he wasn't a physiatrist or knew fucking anything about psychology, but I was getting off track.
It was my fight. No matter how fucking dumb, it was something I had to do on my own. I steeled myself and headed in.
Old, dull yellow lamps hung from either wall of the wide tunnel through the mountain, giving just enough light to not trip over the occasional crack or outcropping in the otherwise extraordinarily smooth floor. It wasn't the work of human hands, likely Rock or Ground-Type Pokémon under the direction of ancient Pebble clan members, carving through the mountain to create a path to the wider Kanto region. There were other ways to get around Mt. Moon, but they either involved way more hiking than anyone sane wanted to deal with or were too treacherous for transporting large amounts of goods. The weird sci-fi tech that turned solid matter into data had solved a lot of those issues, but Kanto was old, and there were limits to technology.
The tunnel was made with that kind of heavy traffic in mind, over 50 feet wide and an unknown amount tall, the weak illumination leaving the ceiling obscured by darkness. Upwards of a hundred people passed through on a daily basis, not accounting for the wild Pokémon that called the mountain home.
Which was why the silence was so oppressive. Every step echoed off the stone and magnified in the quiet, every shadow an enemy lying in ambush, waiting to jump me. Less than 5 minutes into my trek, I couldn't wait any longer and released Sol and Siren to join me, carrying my Feebas to save her energy. I'd already briefed them before I went in, so they were ready instantly, Sol sniffing around aggressively as he walked in front.
It was so tempting to send out Betty too, but it wasn't worth the risk. Besides not being sure I trusted her to engage in combat with humans without turning it into a massacre, I also had to think of after. Sure, having the Titan Bagon fighting the Rockets would be a great help, but it would also create a big fucking problem.
Unless I killed everyone I saw, including random Trainers passing through, people were going to see her and spread that info. I might be annoyed at Oak, and being unable to use my full team in general, but he was probably right about that. I wasn't strong enough for people to know that I had a Titan-natured Pseudo-Legendary.
Using Sol was already a risk. There were limits to how stupid even I could be.
Not to mention that I didn't actually know if the Rockets were in Mt. Moon in the first place. My metaknowledge said they were, but I wasn't sure if it was correct or where exactly I was in the timeline. Ash couldn't be far behind with how long I spent in Pewter, but the geography was very different from the video games. Maybe Team Rocket hadn't started their operation yet.
I wasn't sure which option I liked more.
The air cooled the further in we went, the subterranean shaft tilting downwards lightly. Side corridors branched off in different directions, the same shitty lamps showing the way and small signs telling what lay at the end of the shady paths. We'd pause at every one, my eyes on Sol as his ears and nose twitched, before he continued on. I had no idea where the Rockets were, if they were anywhere, but going spelunking into the unknown could wait for another time. Especially as the hidden ceiling undulated, what I imagined was whole flocks of Zubat shifting around.
Time became meaningless as we crept along. The air smelled of soil, stone, and staleness, old oxygen lingering in indentations and mixing with the fresh. At some point, my tenseness began fading as nothing showed up. Sure, that was suspicious in and of itself, but maybe it was just a slow day.
Maybe I was wrong and there was nothing to find-
RRRRRRR!
-a noise, something scraping against stone from one of the side paths. I swiftly indicated for Sol to join me behind a rock, peeking out as something shifted in the murky corridor, slowly coming closer. We tensed, hearts pounding, ready to jump them when the Rocket came forth-
-A small yellow form shuffled across the main pathway, the sandy colored hide showing a pattern almost similar to bricks and a white underbelly. Blue, almond-shaped eyes darted back and forth as its pointed snout and triangle eyes twitched to make sure the way was clear. A thick conical tail dragged across the ground while claws clacked against stone as the Sandshrew deemed it safe and darted over to the other side and vanished.
I exhaled explosively, patting Sol when he imitated me. Fucking shit. This wasn't good for my blood pressure. Still, kind of funny to almost jump a rodent, thinking it's a terrorist. That would have been surprising for that Sandshrew-
-”Ay, who the fuck are you?!”
I spun around at the voice from behind me. A tall man stood there, looking as shocked as I was behind his scruffy beard. He'd seen better days, gray streaking his greasy hair despite the fullness, crow's feet lingering at the edges of his light blue eyes, and it was difficult to determine the color of his skin behind all the dirt.
What wasn't hard to make out, however, was the all black uniform with a large red TR stamped on the front.
The Rocket Grunt reached down to grasp one of the three Pokéballs on his belt.
“Stay right the-AAARGHH!” Whatever he was going to say was cut off as a medium strength Water Gun caught him center mass and launched him back, his head hitting stone with a crack!
I dropped Siren as soon as her attack cut off, confident in her ability to catch herself, and ran for the Grunt. He'd just started stirring, moaning in pain as he tried to get up, when I was upon him. My knees smacked down on either side of him as I sat on his stomach, but I ignored the twinge of discomfort as one hand wrapped around his mouth and the other pulled my survival knife and pressed it against his throat.
“Don't fucking move, or I'll fucking kill you, I swear.”
I wasn't sure if I meant that.
The Grunt seemed to believe me, however, and that was really all that mattered. Not that he had much choice with a knife against his Adam's apple, a huge Growlithe snarling at him with saliva dripping from finger-long fangs inches from his face on one side and a glaring Feebas on the other side, cheeks bloated with another Water Gun that wouldn't be made deliberately weaker.
He froze.
“Hands behind your head. Slowly.”
His fingers intertwined at his neck, his terrified eyes glistening up at me, but I couldn't find anything within myself that gave a fuck.
I was more likely to slit his throat than I was letting up.
“I have some questions, and you're gonna answer them. Lie and you die. Try to call for help, and you'll be alive when Growlithe eats you.”
A whimper sneaked out from under my palm as Sol smacked his jaws at my words. The Grunt tried to nod frantically, held in place by the pressure, and ended up smearing snot all over my hand.
I slowly pulled my hand back, wiping it off on his shirt on the way. A wet sob escaped him before being cut off by the knife pressing down.
“Why are you here? What's your objective?” Might as well start basic. As far as I recalled, it was about fossils, but it never hurt to be sure.
“W-we’re, oh Mew, p-please don't kill me!”
“I will if you don't answer the fucking question!”
“T-The Moon S-Stone! We're looking for the Moon Stone!” Tears leaked down his cheeks as he stuttered out the words.
“THE Moon Stone? What's that?” It didn't sound like normal Moon stones. Actually, wasn't there something about Clefairy being aliens or some shit?
The Grunt confirmed my half-remembered lore.
“I-it’s a l-legend! They say t-that the Clefairy crashed at Mt. Moon on a g-giant Moon Stone and that it's still here, somewhere! T-the Boss wants us to find it and-and keep an eye out for fossils while we dig!”
So it was a combo. Alright, good to know, even if it didn't really matter why they were there. They could be setting up an orphanage and I'd still clap their cheeks in a decidedly non-sexual way. Well, non-sexual for me, I didn't know what these freaks were into.
Just had to find them.
I opened my mouth to ask that question, yet before the first syllable left my lips, I was cut off by an electronic scratching noise.
“KRZZ-Ada-KRRZZZ-Adam? Ya ther’? KRZZZ- Ya missed the check in, ya dumb son-of-a-bitch. Adam? KRRRZZZ.”
I stared down the Grunt as I took the walkie-talkie off his belt and held it up to him.
“I'll fucking torture you to death before they get here. Do you understand?”
Adam, as was apparently his name, nodded frantically and took a couple of deep breaths to try and steady himself. I gave him a moment before clicking the button.
“S-Scott? Yeah, I'm, I'm here.”
I glared at him for the shakiness, but there was little I could do without giving myself away.
“KRZZZ-There ya ar’, yar dumb bastard! The fuck ya doing!? Ya know ya ‘ave ta check in every 15 minutes!” I absently noted that ‘Scott's’ accent resembled Grant's. So, Pewter did have Rocket connections. I knew it was just paranoia, but I couldn’t help but think about Grant's vocal dislike of the League.
“Y-yeah, sorry, I just…” Adam glanced up at me with uncertainty, probably hoping I'd give him something to work with, but got nothing. He licked his lips, sweat dripping down his face and mixing with the snot and tears. “... I saw a Graveller. Thought it was a Trainer. Sorry.”
Silence was the only immediate response, and I readied myself for being discovered. I didn't know what I'd do, but Adam would undoubtedly not be a fan.
Thankfully, the walkie scratched back to life.
“KRZZZ-... a Graveller, ‘uh?”
“Y-yeah.” Adam nodded, even though Scott couldn't see him.
“KRZZZ-... that's fin’. Just check in when ya're suppos’ ta, ya ‘ear?”
“Sorry,” Adam mumbled, but the device had already switched off for the final time. I clipped it onto my own belt before turning back to Adam.
“Good, good. You might survive this. Now, where were we?”
The Rocket Grunt slowly and shakily raised a hand and pointed further down the tunnel.
“T-that way! The second o-one on the left. Then the third turn to the right and first left after that. That's where they are, I swear!”
I considered him for a moment, yet in the end, I believed him. The guy was damn near fucking pissing himself from fear and hadn't tried to warn Scott. He wasn't the type to make the sacrificial play.
“Okay. Who's your leader, how many of you fucks are there, and how many lookouts between here and the main chamber?”
“Scott's the Captain, a-and there are 10 of us. I-I don't k-know how many lookouts, no, please,” his crying resumed as the steel pressed down harder, “I swear, I-I-I don't know, three, four, maybe! Most are digging!”
The smell of ammonia alerted me that there was nothing ‘near’ about him pissing himself any longer. Curling my lip in disgust, I didn't give him any more time before I pulled my hand clutching the knife back and raised it. His eyes widened along with his mouth, but no noise left him before the pommel of my blade cracked him across the temple.
CRACK!
His gaze swam around, but he remained conscious.
Sucks to be him.
CRACK!
The second below had his eyelids dropping as he went limp beneath me. I checked for a pulse and quickly found it. Still alive. Looking down at him, I thought for a second. While the world seemed to operate mostly on anime logic, I wasn't sure if that extended to movie-esque unconsciousness. In my old world, people didn't actually stay down for more than a few moments without something being seriously wrong, but on the other hand, I myself had been out for a while after being attacked on the boat, so it could really go either way.
I shrugged.
One more for good measure.
CRACK!
I went to get off him, but paused.
CRACK!
The last one was just because I felt like it. Fuck Team Rocket. Cunt was lucky that I was trying to be the bigger man and didn't just slit his throat.
THUD!
I launched a quick kick into his nuts as well and nodded to myself in satisfaction.
It didn't take long to drag the unconscious man down the same side tunnel that the Sandshrew had emerged from, the physical training I'd been putting myself through paying dividends as I didn't even need Sol's help, leaving him free to keep an ear and nose out for any others. Finding a large outcropping with space behind it, I swiftly bound Adam's hands and feet together with some rope from my backpack, and just in case he did wake up, I also gagged him.
Was it petty to use my dirty underwear as the gag? Yes. Yes it was, but once again, fuck Team Rocket. Fuckers didn't deserve anything more than the taste of my ass.
Leaving the Grunt behind, we skulked further along. I'd kind of lied a little to Adam, in that I didn't really need directions to where the main group was gathered. Sol had gotten a good, deep whiff of the guy and was leading the way with his nose against the ground. Bloodhounds didn't have shit on Growlithes, and even just being close to the rest of his team was enough to sniff them out.
In Adam's defense, though, the scent trail did lead down the path that he said, second on the left. We spent several minutes crouched by the entrance, ears dialed to eleven and breaths held as we searched for anything, yet got nothing.
The temperature continued dropping as we stealthed through the mountain, heading ever downwards. The lighting also got worse and worse, the distance between the lamps increasing as we entered the parts that were more intended for the local Pokémon than humans. Hell, judging by how rough the surfaces became, they might have been dug by passing Onix without humans having any input.
I clicked my tongue with a tsk! sound as we passed the third turn on the right and kept going, Sol not even glancing that way. So Adam had lied. I made a mental note to kick him in the balls again on the way out.
Or at least I did, until after several more turns at Sol's direction, we came face-to-face with a solid stone wall.
A dead end. I looked down at my Fire-Type incredulously, Siren mirroring me in my arms. If anything, Sol seemed even more baffled than we did. Sniffing around, he led us back up the way we came and down a different side tunnel.
Which was also a dead end.
After the third such occurrence, which accounted for all the branching paths nearby, I leaned down to Sol's eye level. I would’ve crouched, but the Alpha was too tall for that.
“Did you get us lost in fucking Mt. Moon?”
His ears drooped, and he whined, spinning around in circles, sniffing furiously yet getting nowhere as the scent apparently went everywhere.
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. It was my fault. I should have considered that just because he could find the scent, it didn't mean that he was actually trained for searching. The Rockets probably went down most of the tunnels to look for their spot and Sol couldn't differentiate between the old and new trails.
What a fucking mess. I was angry, but there was nothing to really do about it. The only real option we had was trying to fumble our way back to the main path and then follow Adam's directions.
Spinning around, I prepared to do just that, only to freeze in my spot. Sol quickly maneuvered around me and bared his teeth while Siren twisted out of my grasp to take her place beside him.
It seemed that while we were distracted, we'd been joined by someone else, standing at the entrance like a wraith as the small round shape was back-lit and silhouetted, before it moved forward a little, almost floating rather than walking.
The bipedal, pink Pokémon had a chubby, vaguely star-shaped body. A small, pointed tooth protruded from the upper left corner of its mouth. It had wrinkles beside its black, oval eyes, a single dark pink oval marking on each cheek, and large, pointed ears with brown tips. A tuft of fur curled over its forehead, much like its large, upward-curling tail. Each stocky arm had two small claws and a thumb on each hand, and a single toenail on each foot. Finally, there was a pair of tiny, butterfly-shaped wings on its back.
The Clefairy jumped from foot to foot, giving gravity the middle finger as it took several seconds before it hit the ground, before turning its back to us and floating back the way that led towards the surface. Just before it disappeared around the corner, it looked our way again and waved a hand.
My Pokémon and I shared skeptical glances.
“I think it wants us to follow,” I mumbled, Sol and Siren awaiting my decision. I shrugged.
“Eh, sure.”
Fuck it, it probably knew the area better than us.
The Clefairy stayed well ahead of us, only allowing us to catch a small glimpse before vanishing. I quickly lost track of where we were and what path led back up. It wasn't completely hopeless, as Sol should still be able to find the way with the cleanest air, but it wasn't a great feeling, being directed down under a mountain by something with dubious intentions.
Especially when I didn't see neither hair nor hide of any lookouts or other wild Pokémon.
What if it wasn't a wild Clefairy? What if it was one of the Rockets, and we were walking into a trap?
That became more of a concern when we turned the newest corner and the Clefairy was gone. No flash of pink, no waving hand to guide us, just darkness and stone. The lamps had stopped appearing at all several tunnels back, and I had to turn on my flashlight.
I was about to suggest that we head back and try again when Sol perked up, ears twitching.
“You got something?” I asked, heart rate spiking. He huffed, sending dust flying as his nose was in the dirt, and started leading the way. It didn't take long for us to arrive at a turn in the rocky corridor, yellow light leaking from whatever was ahead.
Turning off my flashlight, I waited with bated breath, but didn't hear anything. Taking a risk, I carefully angled an eye around the corner.
The tunnel ended in a large room, several portable lamps set up around what looked like mining equipment. Pickaxes, rope, buckets, and more littered the area of the cavern. The rocky walls extended up higher than I could see from my vantage point, dust and debris littering the floor from where I could see a new tunnel being dug into the sediment.
So I definitely seemed to be in the right place. Except, the only thing I didn't see was any people.
Did they abandon it and go somewhere else to dig? Or maybe Ash and the gang had already shown up and were causing a ruckus.
Either way, I wasn't gonna let the opportunity pass me by, I decided, as I rounded the corner and headed inside. Hopefully, they left something useful or informative lying around. And even if they didn't, they were probably coming back for their gear, allowing me to ambush them.
I'd made it about eight steps inside the cave before Sol suddenly stopped and flipped around, a growl rumbling from his throat. It was so loud that I almost didn't hear the voice from behind me.
“A brat, eh? Shit, I'mma club that dumbass one when ‘e gets ‘ere. Unless ‘e's dead, which would be a shame. ‘E did so well luring ya ‘ere.”
Slowly rotating, my heart dropped out through my asshole when I saw the nine people and over 20 Pokémon lining either side of the entrance, where they'd been hidden against the wall.
“Fuck.”
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Fuck Adam. All my homies hate that slippery piece of shit. Gonna kick him in the balls again if we get out of this.
Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoyed.
Comments
wretched Cat
Hahaha, yep peri is in a spot of trouble alright. I think he is forgetting that while cartoon evil, these guys aren't as stupid as In the anime.
