All Alone (BEING EDITED)

Chapter 38: The Lightning Strikes.

"Come on, Milotic. We need to reach that cavern." I say determindly. Right now I am riding on Milotic's back towards Route 128 where that beam of light appeared only ten minutes ago. Paul is right behind me on his Swampert.

"I'm trying my best, Dawn." Milotic says, pushing through the water with amazing power. Chatot growls in agreement as the wind pushes through his feathers.

"Can't we slow down a bit? My feathers are all messed up." he complains, picking at a feather on his shoulder. I scowl at him and continue my course.

"No. What's more important, your feathers or the lives of millions of people?" I snap back, glaring at him. He cocks his head for a few minutes before giving me his answer.

"Is that a trick question?" he asks, smirking at me. I frown at him and smack his head lightly before concentrating my attention back to the water. Chatot shuts up after that, but continues to mumble under his breath. A small ring of land appears in my vision and I quickly direct Milotic towards it.

"Here we are." I say, leaping off of Milotic's back and onto the soft, brown sand. I turn around and quickly return Chatot before he has the chance to object. I don't want him complaining about wet feathers. I glance down at the circle of water before me as Paul pulls up next to me. He looks at the water and gestures his Swampert over, staying silent the whole time. I do the same with Milotic and grab the scuba gear Steven gave me. I fit it over my mouth and test the breathing to make sure it works properly. Without wating for Paul I dive into the water with Milotic close behind. Milotic swims down to me and I grab onto her back, letting her guide me through the water. A splash echoes behind me, indicating that Paul has submerged.

We swim through the water, looking for another entrance in the sea caverns. A cave makes its appearance at the edge of my vision and I quickly pull Milotic to a stop. She spots it too and races towards it with Paul following our trail. We enter and glance up to see a small patch of light in the darkness. I nod and swim up towards it, finally emerging from the dark water. The cavern is small, but there is an exit above the water. Docked next to it is the submarine which was stolen from Slateport City. It is now painted red and black and has some slight modifications to it.

I thank Milotic and return her before climbing out of the water onto the rocky platform. Paul does the same with his Swampert and climbs up next to me. I tear off the gear, shoving it in my bag and take out Chatot's pokeball. I release him and he growls at me menacingly. I sigh and shake my head, pointing at the water. He understands and nods his head before settling himself on my shoulder.

"What's the plan?" Paul asks as I begin walking down the tunnel. I glance back at him and smile sheepishly.

"Thought you had one." I reply, scratching the back of my head nervously. He sighs and continues walking. I catch up to him and walk beside him.

"I was just going to wing it." I explain, shoving my hands in the pockets of my black sweatshirt. He smirks slightly and shakes his head.

"That's going to fail." he says, turning a corner. I frown and fold my arms across my chest, following him around.

"How do you know that?" I ask, glaring at him. He chuckles softly, but doesn't look at me.

"Remember what happened last time?" he reminds me, increasing his pace slightly. I freeze in place for a second, but quickly regain my composure. Oh yeah. That plan to infiltrate Team Magma's base. That totally succeeded. I slump my shoulders in defeat and follow him down the path with Chatot silently laughing the whole time.

We continue navigating our way through the corridors until we come across an entrance to another cavern. Voices flow out of the hole and I recognize one as being Maxie's. Chatot growls angrily and Paul just scowls at the entrance. I shrug my shoulders and stroll though the entrance. I stop immediately, causing Paul to bump into my back. Ahead of me is a huge cavern and in the center is a pool of boiling lava. Groudon sits in the pool, slumbering peacefully. The rocky path spreads out and creates a little ledge in front of the sleeping beast. On this ledge are Maxie and Archie. But they're not alone. Shouting at them in anger is none other than May with Drew trying to hold her back.