Pokemon: Dreams Come True

Chapter 46: Rift

Trinity and I entered the Pokemon Center and looked around the place.

"Where could he be?" Trinity asked.

"Not sure," I admitted.

Eevee sniffed at the air, bobbing her head from side to side as she searched for Brock.

Pikachu's tail twitched as he too tried to locate the Gym Leader, until he and Eevee's gazes settled on the same place: the counter.

I sighed, instantly knowing what was going on.

"You are such a captivating beauty!" a voice said. "You are the one that can warm my stone-cold heart. But please, do not break it, for it is fragile!"

Trinity and I looked at each other with frowns, before walking over to the source of the sounds. We found Brock kneeling in front of the counter, holding Nurse Joy's hand. She looked very uncomfortable at the romantic approach.

"Okay, stop bothering her," I said and karate chopped him on the head, causing him to groan in pain.

"Why do you have to sound so desperate?" Trinity said, pulling Brock by his ear.

"Not again!" Brock cried comical tears as we dragged him away.

One of Brock's Poke Balls opened, revealing Croagunk, who looked confused as he realized his job has already been done. Nonetheless, he nodded at us with respect and tapped on his Poke Ball once more, going back inside of it.

We hauled him over to a table and I roughly pushed him into a seat. We sat down facing him.

"Hey guys," Brock said, sniffling and covering his eyes. "I've been waiting for you to get here."

"More like harassing Nurse Joy," I smirked. "How have you been Brock?"

Brock's tears disappeared instantly and his countenance went back to normal. "I'm doing just great. What about you two?"

"Doing fine," Trinity said. "You're going to join us on our task?"

"Of course," Brock grinned. "I figured you two could use some help. This whole earthquake thing sounds dangerous but interesting. Besides, you need an expert on Rock- and Ground-types like me."

"Yeah, we do need you," I admitted. "We're glad to have you with us."

"I'm glad to be accompanying you two," he said. "I'm excited to see how much you've grown. But let's not waste any time."

"We should go now," Trinity agreed, standing up. Brock and I followed suit, and the three of us walked out of the Pokemon Center.

***

We headed toward the direction Grampa Canyon was in. It was honestly so disconcerting stepping out of an urban metropolis into a barren, dry landscape. Neon Town really made you forget what surrounded it.

Cliffs and rocky foothills encased the path from Neon Town, with natural formations of rocks sprawling through it. We saw a myriad of Rock- and Ground-type Pokemon either seeking shelter under the ceiling of caverns or rocks, or in burrows that they dug themselves.

"Where did you say the earthquakes came from?" I asked Brock, because I didn't spot any of the rifts or cracks that we were supposedly looking for.

"It's just a couple minutes forward," he replied.

Five minutes later, we still spotted nothing. Eevee and Pikachu looked similarly perplexed at the normality of the canyon.

Trinity frowned. "The ground did split apart, and Pokemon did come out of it, right?"