Two ropes dangled down to the entrance. Ours, and Pierce's team. I've been to many dark places before, and this is no different. If Chargestone Caves blinks, then I guess, it's a natural phenomena! It's just black and white. Virgo was first, followed by Zeal, then Alice and Charlotte, then me. We took one step at a time.
Pierce's team was fast to sink. They must've thought this is some sort of race. I mean, they can lead the way if they want. That'll make us aware of what's down stairs at least. He and his peers slid down the rope. That must've hurt in the hands.
The deeper we got, the lesser the daylight. I was becoming bewildered by the constant shifts of the sparkling stones. Black… White… Black… White… It's like I'm entering some sort of illusion – the kind that makes your head spin and eyes wobbly.
The first ten minutes had passed and so far, the rope is still of use.
"Pierce and his peers are probably down by now. Hurry, Virgo," said Zeal.
"Hey? I'm trying my best here. Besides, if there's any monster down there, they must've eaten them, so they'll be full to eat us now!"
"You and your fictional mind. There's no monster there," Zeal said.
"T-t-this place alone looks like a nest. Your stone, Luna? Does it glow?" asked Alice.
"My stone? Eh, I guess Zekrom is asleep. No flicker, no glimmer, no nothin'."
"But this would contradict what mom said."
"She still might be right. We're not at the very bottom yet." Charlotte relieved.
Another round of minutes, and this is where the rope ends. I could see that Pierce's rope also ends here, at one of the stones. Stepping on those stones makes me extremely dizzy. It's like the sun and moon fighting for a position here.
The stones were our stairs that led us to a cavern. Its width is wide not to be considered a portion of the tower, but beneath it. Here, there was only darkness, and the footsteps of those ahead of us. Water dripped everywhere. Such vastness it had I feel like being inside a spider's nest. Among the peculiarities was the inability for our voices to echo. Plus, these rocks were glossy.
We've arrived at a bridge. The bridge was not of man structure, but a long stretch of these special black glossy rocks. There were dozens of them stretching outward in all directions inside this colossal chasm.
"This reminds me of a book, except all these minerals were doors. Ye know? One is parallel to another," said Virgo, enthusiastically picking up some samples.
"It's all tied?"
"I'm afraid, so, Charlotte. These seem like webs."
"K, k, let's get this over with." Zeal crossed first.
We followed our back, mindful of our feet. Though it was wide, it was slippery for one to fall off.
"Hey, weren't we there before?" Alice soon noticed. To our sight, we were running in a straight line but ended going above then across?
"See! Parallel."
"Oh, I get it now. Yeah, yeah, it's like a puzzle. We were down, then we're up? If we head left, we reach right. If we try up, we'll be going down. Are we on the same page?"
"Ding! Luna's right. Step one, we must pinpoint our destination so we know which path to take."
"That hole below us. I'm guessing that's where Team Plasma is," pointed Alice.
"Looks more of an entrance to an esophagus. But, not bad to try."
"There's no way Piece could've managed to get such solution very fast," doubted Charlotte.
"They're probably somewhere struggling. Who knows? Maybe they're trapped!" Virgo exclaimed.
We don't know the Science or physics behind this, or if this is a guile the brain, but that's how the chasm wants its games, and we'll have it that way! An absolute of hour of walking around had delivered us to where Alice directed. The trick was to focus on one, and imagining the rest were absent. The abundance of the bridges could intimidate someone since that's their purpose after all.
We rested at the front of the hole, loosening our limbs before hiking below.
"Luna, still no glowy glowy?"
"Nah, Zekrom doesn't seem to give a crap right now," said I, observing the stone on my palm.
The outward shards were our only way to reach the bottom. It was similar to wall climbing, yet in reverse mode. In spite of the mission's danger, it was fun to bond with them. Virgo wouldn't stop talking about books and news.
"You haven't heard it? It was epic! There was this red haired mastermind who summoned a cool green and red robot. But it was defeated by a fox and a frog that can stand on two legs!"
"And what happened to red hair? Who is he?"
"Forgot his name, but sure he was part of some science organization. Well, he's in prison. Poor him."
"Huh, mom said Kalos's got the worse of the worse prisons in history. Their prisons are literally surrounded with water! They're on islands. Plus, the headquarters of the Pokemon International Police, no not the old, the new one, I think it's a bureau is situated there. "
"Reminds me of Alcatraz," said Charlotte. "Ugh, finally, we're here! What now, more bridges?"
We went further inward to portion two of the chasm. It was a flat space of pure nothingness. That's when we began looking up. Commander Franklin, her men, Pierce, his friends, they look like bugs captured by spiders. I could even see her eye and tense mouth (covered in tape) trying to warn us of something.
"Heh, that's what you get for not waiting for us Pierce," teased Virgo.
Pierce rolled his eyes.
We were about to set them free, Pierce being the last of course, when claps intervened. From the shadows of the other side of the portion came Team Plasma's grunts. They stopped in front of us as their elites let down their defenses, revealing to us, N and his two sisters. Shining in his necklace was the white stone, glowing in brilliant light.
"Welcome, the last of our audience, I see," said N, continuously clapping with the blooming smile of his.
"You told us we were coming?" Charlotte stared at Pierce who shrugged in response.
The grunts were passive. They didn't grapple our arms or anything, but they sealed our only way out with a large boulder.
"Bringing back history, eh? Bring it on, me and Zekrom are ready to fight!"
"I'm afraid that's not how legends work, Luna." N laughed.
I observed my stone, yet not a glow."
"What? I don't understand… I though all I had to do was to be here?"
"Of course, anyone can wield the black and white stone, but they ought to be deemed worthy to harness their powers life."
I yelled, "And what do you make of yourself? A leader who is deluded by the falsehood of his acclaimed father!"
"My intentions is not for domination, rather for justice of both Pokemon and people. With Po—"
"Yatayatayata, the world knows what you're going to say next. If what you say is true, explain Lucario then! Or… Or… My once Budew who's now a Roserade!��
"Reshiram will listen to me, for I—"
"Just the perfect way to dodge a question, your majesty, recite some sort of speech!" Alice mocked.
"—am king." He pulled the white stone and held it on his grasp. It shone brighter, and mine? Still being lazy.
A Pokemon came to being. It is a white-colored, bipedal Pokémon with draconic, avian and mammalian traits. A long, voluminous wispy mane streams out from the upper side of the snout and outwards from its head. The top of this mane is adorned with two protrusions, which resemble ears. Its face is fringed with spiky features, and it has a small, pointed extension below the chin. Its eyes have blue irises and black pupils. There are two pairs of pointed teeth visible when its mouth is open, one in the upper jaw and one in the lower.
"So, he gets an awesome dragon, and I don't?" I complained, shaking the black stone repeatedly and checking if anything miraculous would happen.
"What do you think, Team Rocket? How do you like the beautiful form of the Pokemon who appears before and fights beside the hero that will lead the way to a new world? Now, we shall carry out with our operations! You cannot stop me, alone, but if you believe in the bond of Pokemon and people, then seek for Zekrom as it seeks for you!"
N rode atop Reshiram.
"So? They're leaving us here?" asked Virgo.
"I don't get it! I thought Zekrom was—"
"—I don't know too, Luna. We're as confused as you are. We better ask mom about this, and quick."
"Then, let's go!"
"Wait! We can't just leave these dangling people here!"
"W-what if…" Alice began hypothesizing something. I could see that the beat of her heart was rushing. "What if mom lied?"