Deino took the lead, marching forward with purpose.
Kashiwagi followed closely behind, sweeping the surroundings with his flashlight.
As a Pokémon with weakened vision but infinitely magnified senses of smell, hearing, and touch, a cave was the perfect environment for Deino. In the wild, Deino are typically only found in such subterranean depths.
"Dei-noo~"
"I'm right here."
Kashiwagi responded to Deino's call immediately. The price for having the little guy lead the way was being on high alert for his cries.
If Kashiwagi was even a second late in responding, Deino would invariably scurry back and nip at his hand for reassurance.
The lack of cell service was expected, but the environment of Granite Cave was far more complex than he had anticipated.
Small paths crisscrossed in a dizzying geological maze; even with a map, getting lost was a constant threat.
Other Trainers who had explored these depths had tried to remedy this by carving symbols into the rock walls—symbols that apparently only made sense to them.
The walls were covered in graffiti.
Kashiwagi stared at the various strange shapes and felt a loss for words.
"..."
An 'X' or a simple arrow was one thing, but what was the point of drawing detailed anime characters?
If you're that bored, go find a job—don't waste your artistic talent in a damp hole, he thought.
"Incredible", he sighed, shaking his head. He checked the simple map Shauna had drawn.
It had been hard to decipher when he first saw it, but on-site, the drawings suddenly made sense.
For instance, the doodle that looked like a playground slide? It wasn't a slope. It was a massive pit leading directly to the lowest level of the cave.
Shauna had likely fallen down it, which explained why her memory of it was so vivid.
However...
"Wait, did TeamRocket dig this?"
Kashiwagi scratched his head, peering into the bottomless hole.
He vaguely remembered an anime episode where Team Rocket dug a massive pit to trap Ash and his friends, only for the ground to collapse because the crust was too thin, leading them all to the bottom and catching the attention of Steven Stone.
He released Mawile, using her Magnet Rise to carry himself and Deino safely down the shaft.
Just as expected, they reached a three-way junction. This confirmed his suspicion about Team Rocket; this was exactly where the groups had been shuffled and separated in the show.
The writers always loved mixing the heroes and villains into odd pairs to drive the plot—a trope that appeared in almost every generation.
Continuing down, Deino suddenly barked toward the darkness below.
Kashiwagi swung his flashlight around, catching sight of a small, hunched, dark figure stuck in the tunnel, blocking their path. Its gaunt, spindly frame made his heart skip a beat, reminding him of horror movies about primitive monsters found in deep caveros.
But as the light hit a pair of glittering objects, he relaxed instantly.
"Sableye?"
"Sab-le?"
The Sableye tilted its head, its brilliant gemstone eyes filled with confusion, wearing an expression that said: Why are you calling me?
Kashiwagi breathed a sigh of relief. "Could you move aside, please?"
"Yab-le?" The Sableye looked like it didn't understand a word.
"...Sorry about this then. Scary Face!" he whispered to the Deino in his arms.
Deino immediately bared his fangs and let out a low, menacing growl. "DEI-NOO!"
An eerie red aura pulsed from the little dragon. The Sableye froze for a second before scrambling down the shaft as if its life depended on it, quickly clearing the way.
Kashiwagi reached the bottom—the deepest part of Granite Cave in a few seconds.
It seemed the Sableye had been blocking the very exit of the shaft; perhaps it had been heading to the upper levels to find gems to eat?
He pulled two Pokéblocks from his pocket and set them on the ground.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Take these as compensation."
With that, Kashiwagi turned and walked away with Mawile and Deino.
About thirty seconds later, the small, thin figure crept out from the darkness.
It stared at the Pokéblocks, hesitated, and then popped one into its mouth.
"SA-BLE! SA-BLE!"
The delicious flavor sent the Sableye into a joyous dance. It looked in the direction Kashiwagi had gone, thought for a moment, and decided to follow.
-----
The air in the deepest part of Granite Cave was a cocktail of complex scents.
Kashiwagi had hoped Deino would be able to pick out the scent of Aron or Aggron.
Unfortunately, for a Deino who hadn't fully "leveled up" his nose talents, the smells were too overwhelming. Faced with two diverging tunnels, the little dragon looked lost.
"Dei-noo~"
Deino slumped onto the ground, looking dejected. It clearly hurt his feelings that he couldn't help his Trainer.
"It's okay, it's okay. No big deal."
Kashiwagi comforted him, stroking his fur before recalling him to his ball.
"Rest up. You did great."
In his place, he sent out his own Aggron.
"ROAR!"
The dominant monster slammed into the ground. After a quick look at his Trainer, Aggron let out a thunderous roar into both tunnels, then went silent, tilting his head to listen for an echo.
If there were Aron at the bottom of the cave, they would definitely respond to a call like that.
Sure enough, a familiar "clink-clink" sound echoed from the left tunnel—the unmistakable metallic voices of Aron. But just as Kashiwagi prepared to head left, a nearly identical, savage roar erupted from the right tunnel.
"GR-ROON!!"
Huh?
Did the Aron and Aggron live separately? Or did both paths lead to the same place?
Kashiwagi looked at Mawile and his Aggron; both seemed to favor the right path.
The right it was. He and his two Pokémon pressed forward.
Shortly after they left, the trembling Sableye emerged from the shadows once more.
It looked toward the right tunnel, clearly terrified of following. But the memory of that exquisite Pokéblock was too strong to ignore.
In this world, delicious food trumps everything!
To taste that flavor again, the naturally timid Sableye steeled its nerves. Even knowing that a very dangerous individual lived at the end of that path, it followed.
It waddled forward cautiously. Halfway there, a massive tremor shook the cave, followed by a continuous series of booms and the shouting of that same human.
Sableye jumped in fright and nearly bolted, but curiosity eventually won out. It crept forward until it reached a vast, open cavern.
At the far end, a crystal-clear waterfall cascaded down into a massive pool, the roar of the water filling the space.
Near the waterfall, a much larger Aggron was pinning another Aggron to the ground, letting out continuous, low growls.
The smaller one struggled at first, but its angry bellows soon turned into piteous, submissive whines.
"Roar... roar..."
The human the Sableye was following stood to the side, seemingly saying something.
Suddenly, the human turned his head.
"Oh? Sableye? Are you the one from before?"