Cai Shen and Wayward Cave

I wander through the grass beneath Cycling Road. Nanabozho has gotten strong enough to take on wild pokemon, some of them even higher in level than himself. After fighting my way through a huge stream of wild pokemon, a hiker challenges me. Kazza completely overpowers his Onixes. I find a cave underneath the road. It is very dark and boulders block my path. I stop complimenting myself on my good sense for bringin Hanuman with me when I find that he cannot smash these boulders. Well, they do look different from the ones he has smashed before. Knowing what I do of this world, I deduce that I will need a different move to push these boulders aside. And that probably means another gym badge too. Nothing to do now except take note of the cave's location and come back here when I know of a way to get rid of these boulders.

I see another cave entrance to the east. I will try this one. No boulders blocking my path, but it is very dark, so I could get lost. Hopefully Kazza can just teleport me out of here in an emergency. The first wild pokemon I meet is a metal disk called Bronzor that uses confusion an hurts Hanuman, although not too badly. Hanuman strikes back with flame wheel, and it works very well. Fire is good against whatever type this pokemon happens to be. I run into another one. This cave could be dangerous, wild pokemon keep attacking and I am in a dark maze of rocks, some of which Hanuman must break to get through. Each individual wild pokemon goes down pretty easily, but there are so many that they are wearing my whole team down, or will soon enough.

I find an escape rope. Who would abandon an escape rope? Oh well, at least I can use it if I need to, but I think I could just backtrack my steps. I catch a Bronzor. It is both a steel type and a psychic type. I name my new Bronzor Cai Shen. My team is still hurting, although Khali, Ninhursag, and Articuno are still healthy. I am thinking that I could get used to running around in a dark cavern like this when, quite suddenly, I see a girl...

"I'm Mira. I was catching pokemon, and then I got lost. I'm so scared. Please! Please take me to the exit!"

That should be simple enough. I agree to take her to the exit. She says that she will keep my pokemon healthy all the time. We encounter two wild pokemon at once. This is just like when I was with Cheryl. Mira uses Kadabra and not Chansey, and we are in a cave and not a forest, and my companion wants to get out, not to get through, but really, it's all very similar. And now we come to a dilemma. Mira does not know how to get out of the cave. She seems completely lost. I benefit from having her with me. I could either do what she wants and bring her outside right away, or I could explore the cave and bring her out once I am satisfied that there is no more to be found here. Mira would be none the wiser and my team would gain more experience from the venture.

Bronzor absorbs a lot of punishment, so the going is slow, as that seems to be the only thing that attacks us, although there is the occasional Zubat. We encounter two trainers, who are pretty much outmatched by Mira's Kadabra alone. Easy experience for my team. Another pair of trainers seems easy at first, but a Shinx catches Mira's Kadabra and brings him down. Kazza is more resilient, and survives the bite, hitting back with confusion to end the fight. After encountering some more wild pokemon, Nanabozho is becoming the bane of all Zubats. Another pair of trainers challenges us. They try to anyway, the fearsome Silcoon/Cascoon combo is not really a challenge to me and the Dustox and Beautifly that follow are not much better. They manage to poison Mira's Kadabra, but so what? She heals everything after every battle. I wish I could do that.

Navigating in this darkness is really annoying. I begin to wonder why anyone would ever go into a cave of one's own volition. Then I remember that I am in a cave of my own volition for some reason. I would say that this was a bad idea, but without me, what would have become of poor Mira? Also, my pokemon, notably Nanabozho, are becoming stronger here. A pair of young trainers are in my way, so we have to battle of course. I fully intend to explore this whole cave, or as much of it as I can get to, while I am here. Nanabozho take out the opposing Buneary in one hit while Mira's Kadabra does the same to the enemy Bidoof. These trainers we are fighting sure are scrubs. Nanabozho's frustration also eliminates a Zubat and weakens a monkey thing called Aipom so that Kadabra finishes it in the next hit.

Finally, after hours in this cave, we circle all the way around it and reach the exit. Mira claims that she will get tougher and then she won't be such a scaredy-cat. In my defense, she was in a part of the cave where I had to go back around anyway, so while we did take the scenic route, it was not that bad. Also, if she hadn't gotten herself lost, she could have taken the more direct route on her own. Also, my pokemon gained several levels there. Weary from my cave expedition, I teleport back (the one good thing about having that move, I guess) to the Oreburgh City Poke Center. I want to adjust my team again, but I am not yet sure how. I will think about it while retiring for the night.