There was no sign. Not imposing arch. Just a huge crack that swallowed the sunlight. The air that came out was cold, damp, and thick. It smelled of old earth, of worn stone, of history.
Ralts stood to my left. Nidorino to my right. Neither of us backed down.
The sound of the outside world faded behind me. Only the echo of my footsteps remained, the murmur of raindrops falling deep below, and the expectant silence of a place that offered me nothing… and was about to teach me its rules.
Mt. Moon greeted me with darkness.
And I walked in without looking back.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Author's Notes: If you want to support the story and read some advance chapters https://www.p@treon. com/Jayjayempi , it would also help me a lot if you have comments on how the story is going or if you would be so kind as to leave a review, Thank you very much for reading!
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The darkness of Mt. Moon isn't simply the absence of light. It's something deeper, more visceral. A density that weighs on your shoulders, seeping into your breathing, into your thoughts. My flashlight projects a thin beam that barely manages to break through the blackness, barely a luminous slash in a sea of shadows that seem to swallow everything. The echoes are constant: my own footsteps, raindrops falling from above, and that almost imperceptible creaking of rocks that settle themselves under the weight of time.
We advance carefully. Nidorino leads the way, his muscles tense, alert to every change in the terrain. Ralts glides behind me like a silent apparition, his small figure almost translucent in the flashing light. His gaze takes in everything, every corner, every shadow that moves out of my sight.
Mt. Moon is not a simple tunnel. It's a network of underground corridors and chambers, as if the mountain were hollow inside. Some sections are so narrow that you have to pass sideways, almost breathless. Others, however, suddenly open into irregular chambers, vast spaces that contrast with the claustrophobic passageways. The ceilings rise like stone cathedrals, decorated with stalactites that look like teeth. Natural pillars support the structure as if the mountain itself had bones. Dark pools cover the floor in low areas, their edges glistening with minerals, and sometimes, if you listen closely, you can hear distant bubbling, as if Mt. Moon had a life of its own.
In one of these rooms, the walls glisten with crystalline veins that reflect the light from my flashlight in bluish glimmers. These chambers seem to breathe. They give the illusion of being ancient, sacred places… as if the mountain itself guarded its secrets with ancient zeal.
Shortly after entering, I heard voices.
I immediately turned off the flashlight. I pressed myself against the wall, signaling Nidorino to stop. The flickering light of another flashlight was approaching from a fork in the road. Two children, clearly disoriented, were stumbling forward. One was crying, the other was holding a rock aloft, trembling.
"Are you lost?" I asked in a low voice.
They jumped. The older one shone his flashlight on me and blinked in surprise. I approached without any sudden movements.
"We split up from the group… following a Clefairy," the eldest said, his voice muffled.
They were scared. And they had reason to be. Mt. Moon isn't a place for improvisation. I made sure to guide them toward one of the side entrances, which I remembered from the entrance. It took us almost an hour. Along the way, I avoided unnecessary questions. I just gave simple directions. Nidorino walked behind like a protective shadow.
When I dropped them off near the exit that connects to the route to the ranger tower, they offered me a broken cookie as a thank you. I took it with a small smile. Not out of hunger. Out of respect. It was all they had.
I went back inside with the same determination with which I had entered.
In one of the large rooms, the air seemed a little drier. The rocks were covered in a layer of grayish dust. There I stopped to inspect. I asked Nidorino to break some small stones with his horn, looking for fragments that might hide a Moon Stone. The impact resonated loudly in the room, bouncing from one wall to the other. We broke several rocks, careful not to raise too much dust. Some had shiny veins, others were empty inside. But nothing that came close to a Moon Stone.
Meanwhile, Ralts hovered silently. Whenever a Zubat dared to approach—drawn by light or movement—Ralts projected a gentle psychic pressure. Nothing aggressive. A small mental pulse, enough to make the swarm screech and drift away like a dispersing cloud. His control is astonishing. He doesn't need to harm. Only warn. And everyone understands.
I saw more wild Pokémon as we progressed. In another of the larger rooms, a pack of Sandshrew scurried along the walls, their rounded bodies and claws scraping the rock with a constant squeak. Up ahead, a lone Paras crawled along the floor, the mushrooms on its back pulsing with a dim, unnatural light. A Geodude jutted out from a rock as if it were part of it, its blank eyes staring at us.
Even though you can traverse Mt. Moon in half a day if you follow the main path… I decided to stay. I have enough food for three days, and I know this place has more to offer than just a route to Cerulean City. I want to find a Moon Stone. I don't plan on using it right away. Nidorino doesn't have much time left to evolve, so it's best to wait for it to finish getting used to its strength and perhaps evolve it in a few months.
It was on one of the last cameras of the day that I saw him.
From a crack in the wall, I heard voices—not children's this time. I turned off my flashlight and moved stealthily. I approached a hollow in the rock, a barely visible irregular space that revealed a side chamber. Beyond, illuminated by powerful flashlights, an artificial underground route extended, cutting at an angle through the natural rock. This wasn't part of the original Mt. Moon system. It was something purposefully excavated. Planned. Hidden.
And there they were.
Grunts from Team Rocket.
At least four of them, moving quickly between crates and transporters. They wore black uniforms with a red "R" on the chest. Silently, they pushed crates from a small manual forklift toward a makeshift wooden structure. A crude, poorly assembled scaffolding that appeared to support an even deeper section of the artificial tunnel.
But the most disturbing thing was the open boxes.
Pokémon.
Locked up.
I saw a Machop with its arms crossed, its gaze lowered. An Ekans curled up, tense, panting. Even a Clefairy, small, covered in an emergency blanket and breathing rapidly, as if it had been drugged or stunned by something. There were more. A sleeping Sandshrew, its back marked by bruises. A Paras whose expression seemed absent, almost blank. And then I saw it… A Growlithe. The orange fur on its body was dirty, dusty, and streaked with dried mud. Its normally vibrant eyes were dull. It was kept inside a small cage, barely big enough for it to lie down in. It was breathing heavily, as if it had been barking itself silly.
There were many. Too many.
And then I understood.
Mt. Moon was more than a natural route. They were using it as a clandestine transportation route. The natural tunnels hid them, but someone—Team Rocket, no doubt—had dug a parallel route, hidden from casual trainers. It was perfect: dark, inaccessible, deep. No one would suspect. No one would see them… unless they went as deep as I did. And even then, the risk was enormous. They were organized. Silent. Disciplined. Professional.
They didn't see me. I walked away carefully, quietly, retracing my steps as if each one might betray my presence. Neither Ralts nor Nidorino made a sound. They understood me without words.
It's not time to intervene. Not yet.
I returned to one of the quieter rooms and set up a small makeshift camp. Ralts lies nearby, silent. Nidorino watches the room entrance with half-closed eyes. I slowly chew on some dry, tasteless bread.
And as the thick silence of Mt. Moon settles around me again, I can't help but mull over what I just witnessed. The images replay in my mind like a cursed projection: the stacked crates, the locked Pokémon, the Machop's dull gaze, the Clefairy trembling under the blanket, and the Growlithe, its matted fur hunched over as if it had forgotten it could ever run free. All of this, accompanied by the red emblem on their uniforms, that "R" that's starting to weigh more than I imagined.
I wonder, helplessly, if I should do something about it. I'm not sure it's my responsibility, or that I'm ready, but something inside me keeps burning. That crevice through which I saw them was a stroke of luck—or maybe fate—an unlikely coincidence in the exact right place at the exact right time. If I hadn't turned off my flashlight when I heard those voices, if I hadn't pressed myself closer to the rock to listen better, if I hadn't followed my intuition to that barely visible gap... I probably would never have noticed that Mt. Moon holds something darker within it than mere stones and Zubats.
And that's precisely what worries me. Because in an environment like this, with tunnels that spiral, rooms that seem to repeat themselves, and corridors that change appearance depending on the angle of the flashlight, there's no guarantee that I'll be able to find that secret chamber again. I could try tomorrow, of course, but I could also get lost for hours or end up accidentally returning to a spot I already know. This mountain is a labyrinth, and I'm just a traveler with a weak flashlight and an increasingly blurred mental map.
Besides, even if I left right now and went all the way to the Ranger Tower to report what I saw, how long would it take for them to respond? Would they arrive in time? What if, at the slightest hint of a threat, Team Rocket simply sealed off that tunnel and dug another one deeper, more hidden, farther from prying eyes? If they're using this mountain as a transportation route, then they already know the lay of the land, they've already mastered the tunnel system, they're already two steps ahead. Reporting it might be helpful, yes, but it could also be useless if they move before anyone can intervene.
And in the meantime, those Pokémon will still be there.
Every minute that passes is a risk to them. Every second I hesitate is a cage that won't open. Because if I do nothing now, if I just watch and walk away, if I put my blind trust in others to come and solve this problem for me, I have to accept that I'll probably never see those Pokémon again. Maybe they'll be released tonight. Maybe they'll be sold, traded, used, or hurt. And then there will be nothing left but the memory of what I could have done but didn't.
It's a decision I can't take lightly. I find myself at that strange point where morality, prudence, and fear intersect. Where logic tells me to wait, but something deeper—more visceral—drives me to action.
I don't know if I'm ready to intervene. I don't know if I have what it takes. But what I do know… is that if I walk away now, if I close my eyes and pretend I didn't see anything, I'm going to be carrying this with me for a long time.
And the mountain, which has shown me its secrets, will not let me forget it so easily.
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Trainer License
Trainer: Maxwell Jones
Hometown: Pewter City
Sponsorship: None
Money: $72,200 Pokedollars ↑$800
Badges: 1.- Boulder Badge
Expandable Travel Backpack (Deluxe)
1. 5 potions (1 slot)
2. 3 rage candy bar (1 slot)
3. 10 Pokeballs (2 slots)
4. 1 Escape Rope (1 slot)
5. 1 Red handkerchief with 16 orange berries (1 slot)⬇
6. 3 Antidotes (Poison Cure) (1 slot)
7. Badge case (1 slot)
8. PokéNav (1 slot)
9. Travel Cooking Kit (Includes a folding frying pan, small knife, kettle container, and mini lighter, all in a compact case) – 2 slots
10. Pokémon Food Ration (4-day ration bag) (2 slots)⬇
11. Human food ration (canned and freeze-dried food for 3 days) (2 slots)⬇
12. Basic Camping Kit (Includes Compact Tent, Sleeping Bag, and Collapsible Lantern) – 3 Slots
Occupied slots: 18/30
Pokémon
nidorino
Gender: Male
Level: 20
Moves: Read, Peck, Focus Energy, Double Kick, Poison Sting, Rage Attack, Horn Attack
Ralts ✨
Gender: Female
Level: 18 ↑1
Moves: Disarming Voice, Teleport, Growl, Double Team, Hypnosis, Draining Kiss, Lucky Chant
EXTRA
pendulum necklace