When Mimikyu and I got back to the others, the cave they'd been digging had disappeared. Everything looked as though we'd never shown up there in the first place, leaving a clean cliff-face. I walked up to it with some grocery bags in hand, Mimikyu carrying a few more in her shadowy… arm… tentacle… hands. As we approached, a portion of the cliff shifted. With smooth movement and no sound, the dirt fell apart. Alakazam stood behind it. Well, floated behind it.
"Welcome," he said as Mimikyu and I walked in. Once we'd entered, he put the wall up behind us.
"Hopefully I got enough for everyone to be happy," I said as I looked around, placing the groceries on the ground and kneeling down.
"That would depend on if you've gotten what I wanted first," Alakazam said very carefully.
I rolled my eyes while reaching into the bag. "Yeah, yeah. You have the same favorite food as my grandma, you know that?"
"A woman of esteemed wisdom and taste, I'm sure."
I scoffed, tossing him the bag of spicy and sweet snack mix he'd asked for just before we left the store. Then I took out another bag, which he caught and gave a curious look. "It's a local snack called Li Hing Mui. Thought you might like it."
He gave the bag an intrigued look, looking it over. As he did, I looked the place over.
Gurdurr, Tyrunt, Mudkip, and Alakazam had been busy. The space we stood in was huge in terms of width, if not so much height. The ceiling was only a foot taller than I was, I assumed because Gurdurr wanted to reinforce things a bit before making it higher. For now, things were relatively smooth, the walls made of volcanic stone. Gurdurr had, at a guess, set up this side as a sort of entranceway. There was another arched doorway across the room. I picked up the bags and walked up to it. Inside was an even larger chamber, made of dirt and stone like the others, with three archways other than the one I'd entered from leading to other rooms. In one of those rooms, I could see Gurdurr. When I went to join him in that room, I stilled at what I'd found there.
A hole. It was about fifteen feet deep, and started about ten feet from the doorway. Gurdurr was looking down inside it. When I followed his gaze, I found Mudkip and Tyrunt. Tyrunt was digging into the back of the wall, making a tunnel from which I could only see his tail wagging back and forth, while Mudkip was crouched and ready. I thought about the makeup of the cave. The room was closest to the ocean. So if Gurdurr was doing what I thought he was-
Tyrunt took a big bite into the tunnel's end. And water hit him like a hose.
Tyrunt sputtered, staggering back, and Mudkip rushed in to grab him by the tail, pulling him back. More and more ocean water poured in, sloshing along the walls and bottom of the pool they'd created. Mudkip lifted Tyrunt out of the pool, Tyrunt swinging back and forth in the smaller Pokemon's grip, grumbling at the water below him as if it had offended him.
Mikikyu came up behind me and watched, fascinated, as the water continued to fill the pool they'd made. Gurdurr noticed me then and gave me a thumbs up.
"Gurdurr!"
"Yeah, bud, this is really nice work," I said with some amazement I couldn't hide. Even after all this time, small things like this could surprise me. It would take a team of humans with powered equipment a full few days to move so much earth and stone. It took three Pokemon a few hours.
"Well guys, I come bearing snacks," I put down the bags of groceries. Tyrunt rushed over to the bags, Mudkip sitting on his head, waited impatiently for me to take out a bag of chocolate-covered popcorn. He eagerly ripped it open with his claws while Mudkip took a pair of bags of spicy fish and meat jerky, which Gurdurr also got.
Tyrunt handed Mimikyu some popcorn, getting multiple arms hugging around his head from the happy ghost-type, while Mudkip chewed on his own food as he sat on Tyrunt's back. Gurdurr idly chewed on a stick of spiced meat while looking around, his thoughts obviously on the next step.
"How is Slugma doing?" I asked Alakazam while everyone ate.
"She is on her way back."
"...Why do I feel like you're hiding something from me?"
"Paranoia is common among dimensional travelers."
"Okay, now you're just being-" before I could finish, Gurdurr looked over at Alakazam.
"Durr!"
"Hm. Yes, that would be best."
"A forge?" I asked, looking between them. "No, better yet, why do you want a room with an ACTIVE lava pool running in the back?"
"Gurdurr."
I took in that lengthy explanation before sighing. "All right then. Alakazam, let Slugma know where to go."
"Very well."
I looked over at him with narrowed eyes. Something had happened. And he didn't want to tell me. What had my tiny lava monster been up to?
Mudkip, Tyrunt, and Mimikyu stayed behind, eating happily, while Gurdurr, Alakazam, and I walked into a room that could have been considered the 'back' of the base. It was large, with a nice little ditch in the back of the room that was ringed in stones. The pool from the other room apparently extended into this room, because ocean water was filling towards our right. It looked great. But Gurdurr kept looking around at the place with disapproval. I knew why. I don't think I'd ever given him any freedom to just do all he wanted when building things. Now that he had free reign, all he wanted was to build and build until it was done. The Buildslayer.
...I might have been in need of some sleep if I was comparing Gurdurr's love of building to Doomslayer's love of killing demons.
Before I could contemplate the weird places my thoughts took, a part of one of the walls began to glow red. As we waited, the small dot began to grow, pieces of the volcanic stone beginning to fall apart and drop. Once it was about two feet across, a small head popped out, a wave of heat following the magma that dripped out to become lava several feet away from us. I stepped back just a bit at the rise in temperature. Slugma looked around, blinking lazily. She smiled at the sight of us, looking more relaxed than she had in a long while.
"Slugma!" she said to me.
"Good to see you, sweetie," I said, unable to keep a smile off my face at the lazy look of contentment she had on her face. "You look like you had a good time."
She nodded eagerly, coming from the tunnel she'd made. The lava dripped into the runoff ditch and began to pool there.
"Gurdurr?" the fighting-type asked.
Slugma frowned, looking at the ditch, then at either side of it. After realizing what he meant, her eyes widened. "Slugma!"
Moving fast, she dived back into the hole of magma she'd made. A moment later, she came out from the ditch, followed by a torrent of lava. She went along the ditch and went into the other side of it.
Just like that, we had a river of lava going through the base.
"...OSHA is going to be pissed."
"Slugma!" she popped back up, swimming happily in the lava.
"Good job!"
At my praise, she wiggled happily in the lava.
"You are praising her too early," Alakazam thought. "Young one. Do you have what you entered the mountain for?"
Slugma nodded and came to the edge of the lava river she'd made. From her chest, a few things began to leave her body. I watched in interest as a small handful of gems of various sizes and colors soon rested on the floor. Alakazam hummed at the sight of them, raising a hand. The gems rose up and floated over to him in his telekinetic grip. Even from where I was, I could feel the heat coming off of them.
"Great job!"
Slugma wiggled happily, while Alakazam gave me a look that I ignored.
"You see anything interesting while you were down there?"
"..."
Slugma slowly sank into the lava river.
"Slugma?" I asked, confused.
She disappeared under the red waves.
"What the hell?" I turned to look at Alakazam, only to realize he'd disappeared. "Wha- Guys, are you kidding?"
I looked at Gurdurr. He gave me a confused look. "You ever get the feeling… I don't know... that the secrets being kept from you aren't dangerous or bad, but just annoying?"
"Gurdurr," he said sympathetically.
"Good boy."
One and Half Weeks Later:
Gurdurr had been working almost constantly since the moment we got to digging out our new base. As had the rest of us. We spent a whole lot of time doing nothing but making a home for ourselves, working our butts off.
Well, I tried to. While I did my best to help, my best contribution was just being a human being. I could go out and purchase some essentials. Of course, being a teenager, there was only so much money I could spend without it being suspicious, even with my explanation of 'I'm a dumb tourist and my parents are super-rich idiots.' Still, better than Mimikyu trying to go shopping on her own, adorable as that would be.
It was nice that we got so much of the base cleaned up and ready to go. Of course, I hadn't been able to really buy beds and furniture, but people toss that stuff away all the time, so I was able to furnish the place a bit. It still looked like the cave version of the Ninja Turtles hideout, being very makeshift, but Gurdurr was working tirelessly to change that.
He'd have to keep at it. I had some work of my own to do.
In the kitchen, I sat at a beat-up old table I'd found at a garage sale, sitting on a chair made of milk crates tied together with zip-ties as I sipped at some water. I would have loved to have coffee, but if I wanted to attain my future height, I'd need to wait on that. Gurdurr was enjoying his coffee though, tipping the hardhat he'd gotten back as he looked down at some blueprints, stopping to jot down notes. Mudkip was chewing on some Flamin Hot Cheetos™, his new favorite snack, as he sat next to me. Mimikyu was sewing at a small table set up for her, using fabrics I'd bought to make something. Slugma was in the oven. Which was really just a small pool of lava in the corner that we used to cook in.
Tyrunt was watching an old TV. I'd bought it and a DVD player while I'd been in a secondhand store, and found some DVDs. To my surprise, the Antonio Banderas Zorro movies were a thing in this world, and he was currently watching the suave swordsman in the black mask dance around a bunch of bad guys while making little growling 'swish, swish!' sounds. The power for it was coming from a generator in the corner of the kitchen, which was also giving energy to a tiny fridge I'd bought for perishables. It would do until we could get Alakazam's plans off the ground.
Which he was having problems with. "It's a simple matter of material. In order to make it, I will need more than just raw chunks of metal," Alakazam was flipping through a manual, frowning angrily at it. "Geothermal energy is simple in concept. Hot water, steam, turbine spinning connected to a generator. But everything else. Internet to conduct our research, resources to build with such as wires, circuit boards… We can make a lot of things. But such precise equipment is needed for all of this… How did this Batman that you spoke of make an entire cave full of technology twice as advanced as this in secret as just one man? Or did he hire and kill contractors to do it all?"
"Nah. He has a butler and more money than some small countries," I said pedantically. "Jokes aside, the Batcave is the product of years of constant work, upgrades, and later aid from trusted friends. So, you know. Us, but without millions of dollars."
"Mudkip," the small blue Pokemon said, looking over at a metal briefcase in the corner, then giving me a smirk.
"Don't be a smartass," I poked his nose, getting a chuckle from him.
"Mahmou-" Alakazam was about to say before I raised a hand with a sigh.
"I get it. I get it. We need to do a lot more than just sit next to a volcano and work out," I looked over at the place where my weights rested. Granted, my 'weights' were chunks of metal Slugma had brought up and helped form into something with handles and holes in the right places, but they worked. "We'll need to make this island ours. Uh, metaphorically."
Tyrunt rose from the TV, turning it off. Mimikyu stopped sewing. The two of them came over to the table, and all my Pokemon watched me, Gurdurr placing his blueprints down.
"Alakazam, how many teleport points can you make in Hawaii?" I asked.
He closed his eyes. "...Provided that you can find somewhere that will not be disturbed or damaged in some way? I will have to see. We will have to go to those places however. And some may take longer than others."
"There's only one I want and need to be honest."
"Honolulu," Alakazam said. He nodded. "I suspected as much. You wish to begin an expedition to go there?"
"Yes. Ideally, we'd have a location on each island," I rubbed my chin. "In some ways, we lucked out with Hawaii. This place isn't some sort of deserted island, but we're far away from Gotham, Metropolis, or anywhere else that might have supers that might mess with us. If we set up a teleport zone in the right locations, we can move about the islands, grab resources, protect-" I cut myself off before continuing. "Well, the point is, we'll be able to get our goals done."
Mudkip puffed up his cheeks. Alakazam shook his head. Mimikyu and Tyrunt looked confused. I pushed on past my superhero-wanna-be friends with a grimace.
I got it. I believed it was right to protect people, sure. But I'd gone over the reasons why we COULDN'T do that multiple times. No matter what their, or my, thoughts were. For their safety.
"Okay, here's the plan. We need to start with Honolulu. Best way to get there from here is by plane. Alakazam?"
"Hilo International Airport. But you do not have a passport," he said. He didn't sound like he was reproaching me or thinking I hadn't remembered. Just thoughtful.
"I know. I'm only laying out our options," I leaned forward. "Options are sneaking on board somehow. Which, you know. I'm not about to become labeled as a stowaway. Or as a terrorist. Same reason we shouldn't steal a plane or helicopter. I'm tempted to simply place your Pokeball in a box and send it there. Have you open the ball yourself, find a place to make a teleport zone, then you just come here."
Alakazam blinked. "...While that is a simple answer-"
"Yeah, I don't want to leave you on your own while making one of the teleport zones," I said. Making one of those took a lot of concentration for him. While he could defend himself if need be, he was still much more vulnerable when he did something like that. And my Pokemon, while they could still handle things on their own, might need me for any of a different number of things. After all, I was still the expert on this universe, their trainer, and the guy who made the plans.
Doomsday falling out of the sky was still a viable threat in my mind. And before anyone thinks it's outlandish, think of the things that fall out of the sky to threaten heroes out of nowhere. There. You get me.
Regardless, none of us was leaving the base in anything but groups of two, and for a long trip, I'd want to take more than that.
"Hilo International Airport is off the table… except for emergencies. I think we need to go shady and slow."
"Then who will go with you?"
"..." I looked over my Pokemon. "Ideally, Gurdurr would stay with a couple of you guys to continue his work on the base."
Gurdurr froze. For a moment, his face switched expressions quickly, wincing and frowning, as he placed a hand on his face. "...Gurdurr."
He sounded torn.
"I know bud. I want you to come too," I said. "But I need this base… Which means you need…" I looked over my Pokemon. "Tyrunt and Slugma."
"Tyrunt!?"
"Slug!?"
I winced at the growl of Tyrunt, and the Slugma's quivering lips. "I know guys, I know! But Tyrunt, you can help Gurdurr with the heavy lifting, and you've got the heat durability to help Slugma. You're IMPORTANT for this job. We need you here."
Tyrunt looked me over, eyes narrowed. After a while, he sighed out a roaring little noise but seemed satisfied.
"And Slugma. While we've got all that money, I'd rather not spend thousands of dollars on things like metal, and the jewels you're bringing up will be a good way for us to get more cash if we end up needing it. Among the other useful stuff."
Slugma's quivering lip calmed down.
"Believe me, I want to take everyone. But we're running on an invisible clock of danger. We might be attacked now, or we might get attacked a year from now. So we need to as much as we can, as fast as we can… Gurdurr. You want to start building the lower levels, right?"
"Gurdurr."
"Then make a list of the stuff we'll need for it. We'll try to grab what we can in Honolulu. I don't want to steal stuff but… Well, we'll cross that bridge later. For now, let's just get there."
"Will we be taking the SUV?" Alakazam asked.
I winced. That thing was a giant damn anvil around my neck. I had to use it sometimes, but it was still risky as hell, driving something that had been owned by criminals and might have been reported as missing by now. "You know what. We'll take it into town. But when we get back. Tyrunt. Slugma," the two looked up at me. "I'm going to need you to eat a car.
Slugma smiled happily at the thought of a snack. Tyrunt grinned at the thought of breaking stuff.
"For now, I think we should get ready to find us a shady guy with a boat," I said while crossing my arms. "And if that's easy, I'll be very disappointed in Hawaii."
Mudkip chuckled under his breath.
Author's Note: Next chapter, we see how those plans go. For now, the work is going in full swing. Everyone, pull out your base building XCom maps, then your maps of Honolulu. Meanwhile guys, please consider supporting me on ! I'm going to keep posting stuff early on there, so it's the best way to keep up to date on what fanfics will pop up soon.