Deino led the way forward.
Baimu followed it with a flashlight, scanning the surroundings.
As a Pokémon with weakened vision but greatly enhanced smell, hearing, and touch, a cave is an ideal place for Deino. If there were wild Deino, they would typically only appear within caves.
"Roar~"
"I'm here."
He responded to Deino's call, the price of letting the little guy lead the way was to respond promptly to its cries; if he delayed even a bit, it would definitely come back and tug at his hand.
The lack of cell phone service was within Baimu's expectations, but the environment of Stone Cave was far more complex than he had anticipated.
Various small pathways crisscrossed, with a highly intricate geological structure, making it easy to get lost even with a map as guidance. The trainers who ventured here considered this and chose to carve patterns on the rock walls that only they could recognize—
The walls were covered with them.
Baimu looked at the strange shapes on the rock walls, not knowing what to say.
You could just draw a cross or some symbol, but putting up two-dimensional cartoon characters, what's that about? If you're so idle, find a job, don't waste your drawing talent.
"Amazing."
He sighed and shook his head, looking at the rudimentary map Xiaoren had drawn for him.
At first, it was hard to understand, but being on-site made it clear what the drawings represented, such as the slope that looked like a slide.
It's not a slope! It's a pit leading to the very bottom of Stone Cave!
Most likely, Xiaoren accidentally fell down there, leaving a profound impression of it.
However...
"Could it be Rocket Team who dug this?"
Baimu scratched his head, looking at the bottomless hole before him.
He remembered in the animation, Rocket Team had dug a huge hole to trap Ash Ketchum and his friends, but didn't expect the ground to be so fragile that it collapsed, drawing Da Wu's attention.
He released Mawile, using its Electromagnetic Levitation to take Deino downwards.
As expected, a three-way intersection appeared, which convinced Baimu that this hole was indeed dug by Rocket Team, as they had split into random teams due to this very junction.
Pokémon storytellers have always enjoyed mixing the protagonist group and the antagonist group into various combinations to tell different stories; nearly every generation has similar plots.
Continuing downward.
Suddenly, Deino called out from below.
Baimu's flashlight flickered and revealed a hunched, dark figure stuck in the tunnel, blocking the way. Its skinny appearance made his heart skip a beat, recalling movies about encountering primitive monsters during cave explorations.
But as the light swept over the shiny bits, he immediately realized.
"Sableye?"
"Yammy?"
Sableye lifted its head, its sparkling gem-like eyes full of confusion, as if to ask why he was calling it.
"..."
Baimu breathed a sigh of relief and said softly, "Could you move aside, please?"
"Yammy?"
Sableye looked completely baffled.
"... Then I'm sorry, Scary Face!" he called out to Deino held in his arms.
The latter immediately showed a fierce expression to Sableye, baring its teeth and growling, "Roar!"
A bizarre red glow rose from it, and the Sableye below hesitated before quickly scampering downwards, soon leaving room for Baimu to descend further.
Baimu continued downward.
He didn't expect to reach the bottom, the deepest part of Stone Cave, so soon. Clearly, the exit was just where Sableye was blocking; perhaps it intended to head to the upper levels to dig for gems to eat?
He pulled two Poké Blocks from his pocket and placed them on the ground. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Consider this a compensation."
Saying this, Baimu turned away with Mawile and Deino.
About half a minute later, a small figure emerged from the darkness, hesitating for a moment at the sight of the Poké Blocks on the ground, then stuffed them into its mouth.
"Yammy! Yammy!"
The delicious taste made Sableye dance with joy. It looked in Baimu's direction, pondered for a moment, and decided to follow.
——
The smell at the deepest part of Stone Cave was quite complex.
Originally, Baimu released Deino, hoping it could catch the scent of Aron or Aggron.
Unfortunately, for a Deino whose sense of smell was not fully developed, it seemed too complex, leaving it confused when facing the stone tunnels leading to either side.
Which way should they go? Which path leads to Aggron?
"Roar~"
Deino lay down despondently, feeling sad for not being able to assist its Trainer.
"It's okay, it's not a big problem."
Baimu gently consoled it, petting its fur before returning it to its Pokeball, "Take a rest, you've done really well."
He then released Aggron.
"Roar!"
The majestic Big Monster landed, exchanged a glance with the Trainer, then unleashed a rolling roar towards the two tunnel entrances, subsequently closing its mouth and listening for feedback.
Since there were Aron at the bottom of Stone Cave, it would surely respond to such a call.
And indeed.
A familiar "clank clank" sound came from the left tunnel, unmistakably the voice of Arons. But just as Baimu was about to head left, a similar roar echoed from the right tunnel.
"Goo Roar——!!"
Hmm?
Aren't Aron and Aggron supposed to live together, or do both passages eventually lead to the same place?
Baimu looked at Mawile and his Aggron, both of which favored the right-hand path.
So, right it is.
He continued forward with the two Pokémon.
Soon after Baimu's departure, Sableye also stepped out of the darkness, shivering slightly. It glanced in Baimu's direction, feeling hesitant to follow.
But recalling the delightful taste of the Poké Block, it still chased after them.
Nothing is more important than delicious food!
To taste that flavor again, the usually timid Sableye decided to venture forward, knowing full well that the end of the path might lead to the territory of some unmanageable creature.
It wobbled forward and halfway through, terrifying tremors shook the ground, followed by continuous rumbling and accompanied by the human's shouts from before.
Sableye jumped in fright, about to turn and flee, but curiosity held it, prompting it to proceed until it reached a vast, open space.
At the end, a clear waterfall poured down into a massive pool, creating a roaring cascade.
Not far from the waterfall, a larger Aggron pinned down another Aggron, continually growling.
The smaller Aggron initially struggled a bit, but soon its defiant noises turned to whimpers.
"Roar~ Roar~"
The human, who had attracted Sableye's attention, stood to the side, seemingly saying something.
Suddenly.
The human turned, confused. "Huh? Sableye? Are you the same one from before?"