The Tyrunt roared as it dashed forward and went to bite Deci, she hopped up into the air and I steadied my breathing and shouted out "Deci, spin with air cutter and supersonic!"
The noibat screeched as she dashed forward, spinning as she unleashed a wave of supersonic blasts that shook the air as she dodged the wide jaws of the pokemon. *supersonic, air cutter, crunch* The Tyrunt shook off the blasts as they sent it tottering off its feet. It gained its balance with a whip of its tail and lunged forward again almost catching Deci's foot before she maneuvered above it, I grimaced and yelled out "Keep moving, don't let it catch you! Knock it's balance off with air cutter then blast it!"
My bat screeched in response as her speed increased, little tinges of air coming off her wings as she flew around the cave before sideswiping the tyrunt twice, once in each direction, she leveled off before blasting the tyrunt with screeches that had even the large tyrantrum cringing and me clutching at my ears in vain before it stopped. I looked up to see the tyrunt lolling against the ground with Deci slowly landing before the Tyrunt growled and struggled to its feet wobbly. It growled and shook its head multiple times before shakily staring at its opponent, before growling once again. *Frustration* It surged forward, each step causing brown dust to emanate off its body before slamming itself into Deci who screeched in pain as she flew back and tumbled off the ground. *Ancient Power, headbutt* I rubbed my ears as a headache from Deci's sonic screams pounded before belting out "You got this Deci! Shake it off, you can finish this! Use Super fang and end it!"
The bat screeched and flung her wings out in earnest as she squared off with the tiny dinosaur, who roared and charged towards her. I grinned as Deci simply hopped once the Tyrunt had gotten close enough before slamming her large teeth into the scaly back and latching on *Super fang*. The Tyrunt yelped in pain before flailing around in an attempt to dislodge the bat, he yelped louder before slumping against the floor in defeat. I cheered "Alright Deci! Come on girl, we won let him go"
Deci screeched and released the brown dinosaur who whined as he flopped onto the ground before struggling to his feet and limping back towards the Tyrantrum who let lose a small growl as he stepped forward and lowered his head to the Tyrunt who squeaked weakly and leaned against the nose of the giant pokemon. I laughed as Deci hopped her way towards me and into my open arms, I smiled and rubbed the area between her ears and she melted into my arms, Spyra nudged her ear and squeaked gently as I sang praises to her quietly. The small bat chirped happily before passing out in my arms, I laughed and looked up to see the Tyrantrum watching with the two tyrunts, and a soft growl emanated from their direction before he nudged a tyrunt towards us and with a huff stood to its full height as the pokemon slowly waddled its way towards me before stopping a few feet from us, I looked over at the Tyrantrum who huffed deeply and turned towards the hole it came from ambling towards it before stopping as my voice rang out "Wait! You're forgetting someone aren't you?"
The giant dino turned in a glance before a deep rumble echoed throughout his chest and he leaned down nudged the remaining small tyrunt through the hole before giving a final look back towards us and a nod until he too disappeared deeper into the cave. I pursed my lips before turning my gaze down to the medium-sized pokemon who was sitting on its haunches with a tired look before I gently leaned down still cradling Deci who clutched my chest and snuggled deeper into me, and gently offered a hand out towards it as I softly said "Well it looks like you need a new home little one. Wanna tag along on our adventure? There will be plenty of fights and food."
The small brown prince pokemon softly growled before gently pushing its large snout into my hand and gently huffing. I smiled and reached into my pocket before pulling out a Pokeball and gently tapping it on its snout, the red and white ball opening and gently absorbing the pokemon into it. It shook once before clicking, I smiled before gently tucking it away and returning Deci to her own Pokeball. Spyra crooned as I gently brushed her snout and sighed softly "Well my dear, looks like our plan is toast. Deci's out cold and the new little one too. We'll have to pick our battles but looks like we may have lost our little bet."
She chirped and rubbed against my neck as I stood and looked around the cave seeing that we were alone. I grabbed my phone, tapping some buttons saved the video before hitting the record button once again then standing, Spyra glided down to the ground and looked up at me expectantly. I looked around as the rotom once again started to search for the desired pokemon, it beeped and focused on a hole in the cave wall a little off to the side and beeped out 'Alert. Multiple Beldum evolution line detected, proceed with caution.'
I nodded and looked around the cave as we came into another similar to the one we had just left. Dotted all around the cave were various types of pokemon from the most common of rock and steel, but I focused on a group that was off to the right. I watched as beldum and metang floated around, playing and digging as a metagross watched over them semi-embedded in the ground. I shook my head and gently rubbed Spyra's head as she floated underneath me and whispered "I don't think we will have any luck tonight my little Spy, with that Tyrantrum and Garchomp roaming around I doubt that any pokemon will let down their guard anytime soon."
She cooned softly and gently bumped my hand before looking up at me with a question and I smiled softly back down at her before gently picking her up and turning back the way we came with a soft "We'll have to come back later once the other two are better alright? I don't want any of you to unnecessarily get hurt."
She snuggled into my arms with a deflated croon as I followed my Rotom phone to the entrance that we had come in, it was another hour before I heard the clicking wingbeats of skarmory and saw Lyra was making her way back with a triumphant look on her face. I laughed softly as Spyra jumped out of my arms and made her way towards the pair, examining both with a chirp before making her back to me with a satisfied look. I chuckled and got in step beside Lyra as we made our way out of the large cave system and back towards the camp.
Lyra looked me over and asked "So? How was your hunting?"
I groaned and replied "You won, I only caught one and it wasn't even on the list for a while. I'll let them out when we get to the camp, how about you?"
She smiled and held out two pokeballs and proudly said "I found a pair of gible! I ran into a miner on my side and he said that a totem Garchomp resides over the western side of the cave and a totem Tyrantrum on the eastern side. They're notorious for fighting each other to claim land and teach younger pokemon. I found these two in one of the nesting sites absolutely dominating against a group of nincada that were intruding. They've almost evolved into gabite, give or take a few days maybe."
I smiled and nodded "We ran into the pair and watched it literally chomp on the garchomp and throw it into a hole they made, then we ended up battling a little tyrunt that was following it. It was an interesting interaction, i wish we could catch them but we're far from that."
Lyra nodded with a serious face before kissing my cheek with a cheeky smile as we came in view of the campsite that we had chosen for the night, it was still in view of the cave but hidden enough that we wouldn't be disturbed by pokemon.
We started to pitch the tent and set the campsite up before finally settling down beside the campfire and gently were conversing over the events that had happened. After parting ways, Lyra had done the same that we had and headed into the tunnels, instead of going deeper into the cave like we had, she found herself on what could only be described as the frontlines of a cave war.
She described the scene like the legends of the old war, where people and pokemon fought only this time it was pokemon on each side. Bodies littered a large no-mon-land and there were pokemon battles all over the place, it only lasted a little bit before the Garchomp and Tyrantrum appeared and started their battle, the other pokemon watched as the two giants fought before the garchomp had blasted the Tyrantrum through a few walls and the dinosaur responded in kind and they disappeared from view, undoubtedly heading to where i had encountered them. The other pokemon continued the fight for a few more minutes before dispersing to nurse their wounds and drag away meals. That's when she was found by a miner named Everette who gave her a rundown.
The two sides, the East and the West as dubbed by the local miners and trainers, had been fighting ever since the cave was discovered, no one knew why but many pokemon flooded to this place and large battles such as these happen every three to four weeks. The two totems, the Tyrantrum and Garchomp held dominion over their side of the cave system. With a large portion of the middle as a free-for-all, the Garchomp ruled the west and the Tyrantrum the east. Each totem was often seen with younger evolutions of itself and every so often if one dies, either to an intruding totem or to its eternal foe. Another takes its place a few months later, there are documented nesting sites but no trainer has ever lasted safely long enough in the tunnels to find out where each side's primary nest is. When one of the totems is defeated, the middle land is absorbed into the victor's side until the loser's side once again challenges and the fighting continues ever onward. As a result of the largescale battle and the blood spilled, the cave is rich in ores, pokemon, and energy. Trainers have reported that the pokemon that are caught here thrive for battle and often grow at an accelerated rate, some researchers and scientists have theorized that is a result of all the energy that has coalesced in the cave system and why so many totem-sized pokemon are constantly growing and living there. Everette also said that while uncommon, mega-evolutions have also been spotted, although in a different part of the cave system, and as such the entire cave system has been dubbed the 'Perpetual Warring Subterrane'.
I nodded and tapped my roto phone on the tyrunt's pokeball as she was explaining and it's voice rang out "Would you like to register this pokemon?" Hitting yes it continued; "Tyrunt, the royal heir pokemon. Recently a large boom in the tyrunt line has led this previously extinct pokemon to once again wander the regions. Scans indicate that this pokemon should be administered a mart brand potion and rest. Would you like to name him?"
I smiled as I let the tyrunt out who looked around before turning towards me with a head tilt and I spoke "Basil, how does Basil sound little guy?"
He chirped as he thought it over then nodded as I smiled and held my hand out to pet him, he looked a little unsure before gently pushing his snout into my hand and crooning softly. I smiled more and started to rub his snout and crown as I sprayed his visible wounds down with a potion. Then did the same to Deci who was fast asleep when i released her from her pokeball. It seems she wasn't used to battling just yet. I simply patted her head before returning her to her pokeball. We continued on our way back towards the research camp site where many of the construction workers were still working. Some basic buildings had been constructed earlier in the day and more were still being constructed by the workers and their Pokémon. Cam, the lead construction worker waved us over as we approached.
He smiled "Just in time for dinner! We'll be settling down in a few but then we'll be staying here to be up in the morning to continue. Let me show you around. Hope you don't mind stew, it's a company tradition when we're in the field."
I smiled and shook my head "Everyone's stew is different. I'm excited to see how yours turns out."
He laughed and turned making his way to the largest building saying over his shoulder "Bah, Matteo's a better cook than I ever could be Ms.Grandview. You'll see. First up, we have your research building. It'll be your main building naturally so the crews pulling out all the stops." He pointed to the shell of the half finished building and continued "It should be fully built in two days and then another to get all the electrical and piping working. Then of course your amenities inside will take another day as well."
We continued past the main research building and passed two more buildings as Cam continued his short tour, "These two will be your bunkhouse and storage houses. They're mostly done, just waiting on the inside to be connected to plumbing and electricity and the amenities. Luckily there's a large well underneath that we suspect is supplied by an underwater river, so you'll have water on demand as well although it may get infested with Pokémon from time to time, I'm sure you know how it is. The power will be supplied to each building separately by either wind turbines or solar power, that will be your choice Ms. Grandview."
I thought for a few seconds and replied "Solar power for now."
He nodded "There will be a store of batteries in the storage house for nighttime usage. Should keep you self-sufficient. Now, the site of the second largest building. The hatchery. Or well....the shell."
I peaked up a bit at his words before letting out a chuckle at the site of the building. It was basically only a concrete foundation with only the beginnings of the outer building's frame. A little ways near it were some of the workers who seemed to be putting the finishing touches onto a large campsite. I glanced at Cam curiously who smiled "We camp on extended projects, keeps us on time and ready. Plus, builds a sense of comradery between the workers. We decided to camp opposite your chosen campsite as we can be a bit noisy in the mornings." He chuckled embarrassingly.
I nodded with a smile and said "How many do you usually bring on expeditions like this?"
He scratched his chin as we neared the large fire that had a large pot sitting over it, bubbling it's delicious aroma out to us "Eh, usually I would say thirty to forty. We've got thirty-seven crew members here, each with about 3 Pokémon each on average."
I widened my eyes in surprise and Lyra whistled lowly, Cam chuckled stepping towards the pot and tasting it with a ladle that was hanging by the sides. He tasted it and hummed approvingly before quickly pouring two bowls and pushing them into our hands "As I said, it can get a bit noisy, and we only offer the best. Come meet the crew!"
The next morning came all too fast, we had been up talking and socializing with the construction crew until one in the morning. We woke up around 10, and I untangled myself from Lyra's arms. The new beds in the bunkhouse were something to get used to, but they were definitely better than the alternative. The crew had decided to finish the bunkhouse first, even though there was only a candle or two set up for light and one double bed for Lyra and I to sleep in instead of the tent. We had decided to let our pokemon out since we were inside and Cam had told me that they usually didn't keep their Corviknights out unless they were traveling so everyone was out and lounging around the bunk house. Batik and Desi were roosting in the rafters while Shiva and Basil were laying on a blanket at the end of the bed. Spyra was laying on my feet at the foot of the bed.
I yawned and stretched before getting out of bed and opening the curtains we had hastily threw over the windows last night, Lyra groaned as the morning sun hit her face. I smiled I continued to open the windows, the sun waking the rest of the Pokémon up who all growled, hissed, or screeched their protest at being woken. I laughed and announced "Rise and Shine everyone, it's way past our wake up time. We've got plenty to do today!"
Lyra chuckled and sat up "So what's on the agenda today?"
I replied as I dug through my bag before pulling out the list of 'Essential Pokemon', "I want to make more progress on the breeding pokemon we offer so until the research camp is 100% done then we'll be catching pokemon until then!"
The next four days were much the same, we had gone back to the cavern system to continue catching the pokemon we needed. I wanted to establish a sort of outpost somewhere in the cavern so that when the time came and we hired some researchers they'd be able to investigate the caverns and have a safe-ish place to fall back on. I had taken the east since we had figured using Basil wouldn't be a very good idea on the west side and the little fossil was very energetic, gnawing on anything solid he could get his hands on. We had spotted the large Tyrantrum only once in the four days, it had been the morning of the four day and what had ultimately pushed us to the head back to the research site.
I was following up on a site that I had seen the day before when I took a wrong turn and found myself on a large cliff-ledge that overlooked the middle of the caverns. The caverns were beautiful, with large stalagmites that glittered with ore and crystals. Several cave dwelling flying and ghost pokemon made their nests in the stalagmites, most notably the Woobat and Noibat lines but the Gastly line was also very prominent though they gravitated towards the cavern walls instead of the hanging rocks. I smiled at the sights and took a deep breath as Basil rubbed against my thigh and Deci landed on a neighboring rock chirping softly. Spyra crooned as she floated alongside me, I patted Basil's head and looked down at the caverns. Pokemon went about their daily lives, my rotom phone buzzed quietly and I slipped my ear buds in and answered the call "Yes Lyre?"
Lyra's voice answered after a crisp cackle through the earbuds and settled at a tolerable volume, the caves providing some interference. "Hey, I've got a problem. Looks like the war's about to start up again. Bunch of the pokemon just went into a frenzy in the lower caves and started to hunker down so I packed up for the day. Managed to catch a goomy in one of the southwestern caves thats connected to an underground lake. I marked it on the map, anyway I'm heading your way to help establish the outpost. You catch those beldum yet?"
"Yes and no, we managed to catch one but I've yet to see another. I don't want to be here when the war starts up again so hurry back. I think I took a left instead of a right when looking for the cave but I know I'm close to it. I'm overlooking the main caverns now, everythings calm for now." I replied quietly as I gazed down at the caverns, our main problem that we faced was that these connected caverns only had a few of the psuedo-legendaries that were on the list. My pokedex had only found signs of the Metagross and Tyrantrum line in the east and Lyra had said she could only find the Garchomp and Goodra line the last few days. But we had seen evidence of the bagon line as well when we first explored. So we would have to move on further into the wild area after catching the final four pokemon we needed .
I stood with a stretch and gestured for my pokemon to follow as I made my way back into the caves, most of the caves were lit with crystals of dense pokemon energy that I was sure would be a wonder to many scientists all over Galar and maybe even other regions. Basil trotted alongside me with Spyra riding on the pokemon's back, he didn't seem to mind as the dreepy didn't really weigh much. Deci was flying ahead, chirping occasionally as she scouted using echolocation. She chirped loudly and caught my attention and gestured towards a path that curved off, I smiled and nodded taking of in a jog. I turned the corner and followed down the path, the Tyrunt easily keeping pace and the Noibat gliding quietly above me. We came into a decent sized cavern that could easily be mistaken for an underground fairy sanctuary, it was almost entirely enclosed with only the one entrance and a crack from the ceiling that fed water into a pool in the back of the cavern that was currently hosting a number of water pokemon. Moss grew on most of the cavern walls near the medium sized pool of water and I could see a few pokemon going about. A few rhyhorn were resting near a set of boulders and cracked rock while a family of woobat nested in an alcove near the top of the wall. We made out way into the room and I spotted a group of dwebble harrassing a group of roggenrola over a gathering of crystals they were feeding on it looked like.
I nodded as I started to mark out a diagram of the cavern for the construction team, my phone flying around taking pictures. We gathered a bit of attention but other than the woobat who were scared off by a few air slashes from Deci, we were left alone until Lyra showed up. I returned Deci and Spyra to their pokeballs and turned to my partner as she jogged up with a smile "Good to see you Lyre, looks like we're gonna have to call it. No beldum in this cave."
She nodded and just before she spoke, the cavern shook with a distant roar of noise. We locked eyes as the wild pokemon around us got spooked and huddled in safe spots, the dwebble withdrew into their rock shells while the roggenrola seemed to melt into the walls. I heard distant splashes from the direction of the water pool. My tyrunt growled in response and brushed against my legs. I gently patted his head before gesturing towards Lyra with a sharp "Alright, let's get back to the research site."
She nodded and I glanced down at Basil "Remember the exit I showed you? The one that led to the sun?" He chomped at the air and wagged his tail as I smiled and pointed forward "Lead us home bud!"
Lyra laughed as the knee-high pokemon took off with a happy 'Ty'! We followed after it, heading back into the tunnels. Most of the pokemon we saw seemed to be finding places to hide and were quickly starting to be replaced by meaner looking pokemon. Various dark types like the Bisharp and Skuntank line to even the poison type Drapion line appearing. Lyra released her Liepard who hissed at the surround pokemon before keeping pace with her trainer, Basil slowed down so he was only a few feet in front of us as we ducked into a tunnel clear of any pokemon.
We ended up out on a cliff that led down to the cavern floor and branched off towards one of the exits, we could see the sunlight peeking into the caverns in the distance. Basil let out a whimper and I looked to find him staring down at the cavern floors that were quickly filling with pokemon on either side. I spotted a gang of Mandibuzz flying lazily over the east side by groups of woobat and golbat milled around lazily in the air above the west side. We all spotted the Totem Tyrantrum as he emerged flanked by three smaller ones, the pokemon on the east side roared happily. We were on a cliff off to the southeast and had a decent view of the east side of the caverns, both armies were varied but most seemed to be direct competition. The east had the Mandibuzz and Gengar line that competed with the west sides Swoobat and Crobat lines in the air. The main pokemon for the east side seemed to be a mix such as Bisharp, Rhydon, various tyrogue line evolutions and even a Golurk quietly stood sentry. While the west had Angron and Seismatoed, I could see the singular red eyes of a few duskclops and a single Dusknoir floated opposite the field of the Golurk while some of the eastern Gigalith line faced off with the western Steelix line. Lyra and I shared a worried glance as the Totem Garchomp led it's entourage out to the loud roars of the western side of the cavern and let out a shriek that was answered by the Tyrantrum's roar. And without another sound, the two sides roared in unison before racing forward into battle.
I grabbed Lyra's hand and patted Basil's head, the Tyrunt was staring longingly down at the battle and I gave him a sympathetic smile "Come on Basil, let's go. Just think of it, outside there'll be more opportunities to fight new things and see even more sights." The little tyrunt let out a grumble before butting it's head into my leg gently and turning towards the exit.