ow that we were in one of those incredible inventions known as cars, I could finally get to relax and get some things done. Especially with my ill-gotten gains. Which I would get rid of as soon as possible. Having a briefcase with a whole lot of cash was just asking for trouble.
So, a road trip in action.
With me driving, a few things happened. FIrst, Mudkip and Mimikyu kept changing the channels on the radio, flipping back and forth. Mimikyu wanted as much heavy metal as she could find, bouncing in place as we drove. Mudkip, on the other hand, was a fan of Rap and Hip-Hop. They didn't fight, but whenever the music changed from one to the other, they were nearly opposite in their excitement.
Tyrunt got insanely bored at one point, forcing me to try and figure out games for us to play when he almost started chewing on Gurdurr's girder. It was that or have two super strong monsters destroy an SUV by starting a fight.
So we played a few car games. One that was immediately useful was I Spy. The only problem with that was Tyrunt. Who quickly got way too competitive.
"I spy something white," I said at one point, looking at a sign in the distance.
Tyrunt growled.
"No."
"Gurdurr."
"There isn't a cloud in the sky."
"Tyrunt!"
"N-"
"Tyrunt!"
"It's not that."
"Gu-" Gurdurr went to say something, only to let out a choking sound. I looked over my shoulder.
Gurdurr was panicking, pulling what looked like a random boot that had been in back from his mouth. Tyrunt gave me a very innocent look.
"...Tyrunt."
I turned back to the road with a creased brow. "Yeah. Yeah, it was a sign."
"Tyrunt!" my dinoboy cheered, giving Gurdurr an haughty laugh.
"Unfortunately, physical abuse aimed at the other players leads to a loss of one thousand points, so Gurdurr is winning the game."
Tyrunt gave me the most betrayed look he could, while Gurdurr finished spitting out the boot, coughing.
Despite that little hiccup, most of the ride was more boring than anything. We made good time, and eventually reached our destination after an hour or so. Kīlauea. The most active volcano in Hawaii.
Well, the visiting center. It was still very early, since we'd started driving in the middle of the night, so the place was empty right now. Perfect.
I parked in front of the one story building, noting some tourist trap-style stuff around the place, though it was relatively tasteful. We hopped out of the car after Alakazam took a quick psychic scan of the area. Mudkip hopped onto his place of prestige onto my shoulders, while Mimikyu was held in my arms. I heard a small 'bam' sound. When I turned around, Tyrunt and Gurdurr gave me innocent looks, despite the bump on Tyrunt's head and the fact Gurdurr couldn't hide his satisfaction.
"Oh wow. I wonder why Tyrunt has a bump on his head," I said as deadpan as I could.
"Tyrunt," a very prideful dinosaur said, unwilling to admit what happened.
"Ah, well, I suppose rocks falling from the sky happens everyday."
When I turned away, I could see Tyrunt and Gurdurr trade a grin at their masterful deception.
Honestly, that was just how they got along. They'd fight, scrap, and compete, then suddenly become best friends again. Alakazam sighed in annoyance, while Mudkip shared a smirk with me. Mimikyu, not really understanding what her big brothers were up to, just snuggled deeper into my arms.
I popped Slugma's pokeball. She appeared in a flash, looking around. Then she looked up at me and smiled.
"Slugma."
"Good to see you too," I said with a smile. "Welcome to Kīlauea."
Slugma looked around. She seemed very interested in one particular direction, but circled around me while waiting.
"It's what we're here for," I said reassuringly. "Lead the way, little lady."
Slugma laughed happily, the sound like steam dancing in the air, and charged forward. We all followed her as she headed in the direction of lava.
Well, to be specific, the direction of the best place for her to be able to Dig down to it. She'd know where the thinnest place was.
We walked for a bit, entering the woods. This late, there probably would have been mosquitos, but the living lava creature we followed was sending up puffs of smoke as she went along, bits of the wood that she slid across turning to ash. I made sure to put it out as we went along.
"This island is beautiful," Alakazam said at one point.
"Yeah, it is," I took in the green forest around us, glowing in Slugma's red light.
"Slugma!" she was happier about getting to the lava she was feeling. Not much for forests, my girl.
After a bit, we were out of the woods. I stared at the sight before us.
The floor was mostly grey stone for what seemed like miles, with a couple of small plants sprouting up from the ground. In the distance, a plume of smoke rose upward into a sky that was just becoming lit up by sunlight, giving the place a hauntingly beautiful look.
"Wow," I said softly.
Tyrunt roamed forward, rushing up to a sign that said something. He stared at it for a bit. Then he lashed out, biting the plastic sign and ripping it apart, then ran past it triumphantly. I looked at the remains of the sign.
One of the ripped parts said 'Do Not'. The other said 'Enter'.
Of course.
Slugma ignored the antics of the Rock/Dragon asserting his dominance across the land to move around, her eyes focused on the ground.
"Mudkip?"
"Slugma."
Mudkip hopped onto my head and looked around curiously. We followed Slugma. The heat began to rise slowly. And soon I saw it.
Lava. Deep in the crater, sitting calmly at the bottom. Slugma gave me a proud smile.
"Nice job!" I said proudly. Mimikyu hopped out of my arms to give Slugma a hug, Slugma wrapped around to hug her back before she had to get moving again.
"We had best get to work," Alakazam reminded me gently.
I nodded my agreement. "We'll base ourselves in this area then. Hide somewhere near the ocean."
"Gurdurr!"
I sighed. "Yeah, you'll get to build a base. And yes, you'll be allowed to go all out."
The smile I got from the little guy was pure joy, like a kid who'd just tasted his first ice cream.
"Slugma, go ahead and do your swim," I pet her on the top of her head, getting a happy burble of noise in response. "Stay in contact through Alakazam's link. Try and find gems if you can, but don't feel pressured to."
I don't think the last part sank in, because she gave me a small smirk. Then she glowed alight with red fire, jumping up and diving into the lava with nary a splash.
"...Tyrunt," the dinosaur said while giving me a look.
"Bud, I know you can withstand a lot of fire, but that's molten magma."
He gave the lava a look like he was still tempted to prove himself, before following us.
We walked in the direction of the ocean, Alakazam keeping Slugma in our mental link. Soon we reached a beach made of black stone from years of lava flows cooling there. In some ways, this place was a snapshot of the very thing that had given birth to the islands.
"Okay, Gurdurr," I looked at my fighting boy. "We've got one thing we need. A base. It needs to be secret, out of the way from tourists or park rangers, and have access to the ocean."
The last part was for Mudkip. While he was built for swamps more than anything, he was still more than capable here. So opening up a base to the ocean would give us not just an easy way for Mudkip to hunt for food for everyone, but also a good escape route. After all, around here, Mudkip was an Apex predator in the ocean.
...Well, on my Earth. Forgot that the DC universe had a different set of rules when it comes to the ocean. There's a reason Aquaman's role as king of the ocean is a powerful fucking threat.
"Gur…" Gurdurr twirled his I-Beam around thoughtfully as he looked around. He looked at Tyrunt. "Durr?"
"Runt," Tyrunt said with a shrug.
Gurdurr, unsatisfied with the lack of a real response, gave him a glare. Tyrunt growled out a sigh. "Ty, tyrunt."
Gurdurr smiled and nodded. When he looked at Mudkip, my small water-type nodded.
"Mudkip."
Then Gurdurr looked at Alakazam, opening his mouth to speak.
"No need," Alakazam said immediately. "I am willing to aid you. I do believe it is a mistake to allow you such free reign," he gave me a look, which I ignored. "But I will follow your plan."
Happy with that response, Gurdurr pointed at a cliff in the distance.
"Gurrrrrrrdurr!" then he charged off towards the cliff, the rest of us following along at a rush. As he got there, he twirled his I-Beam. Tyrunt's jaws opened wide. Mudkip jumped off my head.
A metal I-beam slammed into the side of the cliff. Massive teeth dug into the earth. Mudkip hopped over to help. He blasted the excess dirt with powerful bursts of water, sending it away as simple mud that flowed away into the ocean. Quickly, Gurdurr and Tyrunt began creating a tunnel into the mountain, Mudkip sending the dirt away with blast after blast.
"We'll need to put it back as it was of course," I mentioned.
"Gurdurr!" yeah, he knew.
"Okay. Then I'm going to head into town with Mimikyu," I decided at last. "We need a few things if we want to make a home here. Might as well spend some of the money we stole."
Not all of it, of course. There were over a million dollars in that case. No way that I was going to walk around with that much money.
"Let me know if you need us," Alakazam said gravely.
"I will. See you guys soon," holding Mimikyu in my arms, I headed towards where we'd parked.
In the SUV, Mimikyu and I headed into town, reaching someplace called the Kilauea General Store. Mimikyu followed me inside, sticking stealthily to the shadows, only my mental link to her letting me feel her presence.
As soon as I entered, I marched towards where a bunch of clothes sat, placing underwear, t-shirts, jeans, socks, shorts, a pair of sneakers, and sandals, all in a cart, avoiding the Hawaiian shirts with all my might. Then I went for the food. Mudkip and Gurdurr loved spicy and dry food, so I got them a bag of spicy fish and meat jerky. Tyrunt and Mimikyu were both more fans of sweet and dry, so I got them chocolate covered popcorn, Mimikyu sending me a small burst of happiness as she watched me put them in the cart. Alakazam liked both spicy and sweet food, so I got more of the jerky and popcorn. Slugma liked bitter and spicy food. As weird as that was, I still adjusted to that, getting her some sriracha covered green peas.
Walking around the general store, I picked up some basic fruits, veggies, and meat, taking care to grab what would last longest. Once done, I also grabbed a sleeping bag, pillow, map of the area they sold to tourists, the basic essentials. While I was grabbing those, I felt something interesting from Mimikyu.
She was curious. Fascinated, really. I followed our mental link to turn and look at her.
Then I froze. She was no longer hiding in the shadows. Instead she was out in the open, staring at someone. I looked the same direction.
A pair of little kids were playing with toys, a girl and a boy.
"Pew-pew!" the boy had a small Batman figure in his hands, pretending to fight a small monster toy shaped like a bipedal crystal thing. The girl giggled, holding a Superman toy in her hands. She pressed a button on the back of the toy, and Superman's eyes lit up red, shining on the crystal.
Mimikyu, hesitantly, began to walk towards them.
"Mimikyu, wai-"
"Oh!" the little girl said as I realized my mental warning was too late. "Look!"
The boy turned, and soon the little girl and boy were looking at Mimikyu. She wiggled in place hopefully. I stared at the interaction, worried.
"It's so cute!" the little girl said excitedly.
Mimikyu blinked, then shook with happiness, the Pikachu head of her helmet dancing.
"What's under there?" the boy asked, watching as the little girl ran up to Mimikyu, petting her on the head and cooing at her.
By then I'd made it to them, scooping up Mimikyu into my arms. "Hey, how's it going?" I said to the two kids.
"Hi," the little girl shrank back from me, though she kept her eyes on Mimikyu. "Is that yours mister?"
"Yeah, she is," I placed Mimikyu in my cart, where she continued to send out waves of pure joy throughout our link. That was Mimikyu. She was very receptive to praise. It made me glad and sad all at once, that it took only a little bit to make her day.
"What is she?" the boy asked, curious.
"A cat," I said without preamble. Desperate to change the subject. "So you guys like the Justice League?" I asked, pointing at their costumes.
"Yeah!" the boy's curiosity switched to pride, lifting his Batman toy up for me to see. "Batman is the best!"
"Nahuh!" the little girl held up her toy. "Superman is the best! He's the strongest in the world!"
"Well Batman knows kungking fu!" he said, getting the word wrong and lisping just a bit cutely.
"Superman doesn't need it! He can just go, boom!" the girl displayed what she meant with
Mimikyu, meanwhile, was staring at the kids arguing with fascination. I noted the way her eyes dropped to the toys in their hands.
"What about you, mister?" the boy asked me.
"Me? Well, my favorite hero is Wonder Woman."
He gave me a look of disgust, while the girl looked surprised. "But she's a girl!"
I chuckled at the childish response. "She's awesome, man. Super-strong, fast, and a real warrior. I've always been a fan of swordplay, and she's the best in the world at it. She's awesome."
"...but she's a girl," the boy said, as though that was the end all be all.
"So is my mom and sister, and I think they're awesome as well," I told him seriously.
He didn't seem satisfied with that response, but the little girl giggled at that.
"Well, later kiddos," I walked away from them, noting an older Hawaiian woman who had been watching me suspiciously. She calmed down when I walked away, even giving me a smile.
Mimikyu, in the meantime, became very thoughtful. So when I took a detour to buy some sewing equipment for her, she gave me a very grateful look.
Slugma
Slugma dived into the earth, happily swimming through the magma, diving down for hundreds of feet as easily as a fish swimming in the water. She loved the feel of warm heat around her, melting into and through her body. Magma was home, a place she hadn't been in it for a long time. Still, she had something wonderfully new now that she hadn't had as a young Slugma, before she met her trainer.
Through her link to the others, she could feel Mimikyu's current contemplation, Gurdurr's determination and joy, Tyrunt's grim pride, and Mudkip's laidback happiness. She could even feel her trainer, a constant bundle of a dozen emotions, anger, happiness, and calm, somehow blending together. Humans were confusing like that, always displaying a hundred emotions at once.
And above it all, Alakazam, keeping them all in contact as they moved about.
Slugma took solace in the link. Once before, she would be alone when she was in the lava. Now, she was never alone.
...In fact, that felt oddly literal now. Slugma looked around. Something was in the magma. It felt like it was sleeping. Intrigued, she swam towards it. The presence loomed in the distance, floating in the molten material. Slugma's brow furrowed.
She didn't really see under the magma. Such a thing was impossible. Slugma really navigated through her skin sensing currents around her, her eyes taking in the smallest of changes to temperature in ways no thermal camera in existence could ever come within miles of. Every part of her became a living sensor within the heat.
She floated before the being she sensed in the magma. Over eighteen miles underground, she swam around it. And slowly, it began to awaken. Gently, Slugma backed away, eyes wide as she stared at it. For some reason, she wasn't afraid. The being's body began to move. And the magma began to flow.
Slugma stared in awe, as miles of molten stone was pulled in towards the being in the center, before flowing away again. Like the world around her was breathing.
A pair of eyes opened and landed on Slugma. They stared at her. Then, slowly, it moved towards her.
"...Slugma?" the small Pokemon said inquisitively.
A hand reached out. Okay. Now, she was beginning to feel nervous.
Author's Note: I swear, cliffhangers don't happen on purpose for me. They just end up happening.
Anyway. Not as much action as last chapter, but they're on their way. Mimikyu had a small interaction. I have been told that no one would believe Mimikyu was a cat. I agree. I just like referencing Lilo and Stitch's love of trying to pass off clearly alien creatures as normal pets.
Jokes aside, only two little kids saw Mimikyu, so no chance of others finding out.
Meanwhile, Gurdurr is beginning his digging session with Tyrunt. I'll be honest. Was surprised that Mudkip can't learn dig as well. Which is fine, because he's on clean up duty.
As for Slugma, don't worry about Pele showing herself to the others for a while in the story. It's going to a bit and is part of Slugma's character development. Not the main characters.
Meantime, please consider supporting me on Pa tr eo n. With the current crisis, it's one of the few ways I can make rent, and you guys have been amazing with your support. Hope you have a good day!