Chapter 18 – Some1diesLOL

Outside of the cave that housed a Legendary Pokéball, rain began to fall.

It wasn’t even thirty seconds since Stepwatermelon had run into the cave with his Weepinbell to try and kill Potato and keep him from grabbing the Legendary Pokéball and it had started to rain.

This rain started out gently, and soon became a full-on downpour. Whiz kid looked at Kat and saw he was visibly nervous. Could Kat be concerned for the safety of that kid that he was with? No, not Kat. Not the Kat he knew, at least.

Whiz suddenly felt very uneasy, and knew why. As the rain continued to plummet, Whiz stepped inside of the cave and punched the wall. His fist left a noticeable mark in the cave wall, and Whiz looked around at the inside of the rest of the cave.

He ran outside and looked down to Sandshrew, who was shivering in the cold. “Can you dig around the outside of the cave walls quick enough to loosen the dirt and rocks and make it collapse before they come out?” yelled Whiz. He had to yell, the rain was coming down way too hard to talk and be heard.

Sandshrew nodded, and Kat eyed Whiz.

“What are you doing?” asked Kat.

Whiz pointed down at Sandshrew and said, “The shrew says it could dig around the cave walls quick enough to loosen the dirt and mud and cause a collapse! Just in case Potato gets the Pokéball!”

Kat frowned and took a step towards Whiz. “Like hell you will,” he yelled. “Step is in there, he’ll get Potato, don’t worry!”

Whiz shook his head in disbelief. What happened to the dignified loner who kept his distance from even his closest of friends? Why is he suddenly caring about a punk kid?

“Then what?” asked Whiz. “He knows there’s a Legendary Pokéball in there. He’ll grab it, and come out and use whatever the hell is inside it on us!”

“No,” yelled Kat. “He won’t! He’s a good kid! He wouldn’t do that!”

“Are you a complete idiot, or just half of one?” yelled Whiz. “The kid knows there’s a powerful weapon inside that will undoubtedly make him be the winner of this Royale, and you want to save his skin?”

Kat nodded, and didn’t expect Whiz to understand. Kat was friends with Whiz, but they weren’t anywhere near the realm of best friendship. Both Kat and Whiz shared a mutual respect towards each other, and treated each other well.

“He can help us!” yelled Kat.

Whiz actually laughed at this. “Kat, what the **** are you on? There’s absolute power in that damn cave, and you think he won’t use it to brutally kill us?”

“He’s different, not like that!”

“****, yeah, right,” said Whiz. “You partner up with this kid for a while and become friends? That was your first mistake.”

Whiz’s tone wasn’t one of anger towards Kat, just disappointment. Whiz never thought Kat would pull something like this. Whiz knew the kid was a good kid, and didn’t want to do this… but he had no choice.

“It’s either us or him!” yelled Whiz. The rain had made the temperature drop nearly 20 degrees. “I’m doing it either way, Kat!”

Whiz turned around and faced the cave, and felt the sharp claws of Meowth poking into his back.

“I can’t let you,” said Kat.

“This isn’t ‘happy lets make friends time’, Kat,” said Whiz. “I know you like the kid, but you’re a damn fool to believe that he won’t turn on us when he leaves that cave with a Pokéball. I’m doing it, you can have your Meowth maim me and stop me, but when that kid comes out the cave with a Mewtwo or a Moltres you’ll wish you would’ve listened to me.”

Inside of the cave, Step could hear the roaring rain outside. He took a quick glance up above him while running, and saw Weepinbell was swinging quickly above him, using its vines and gripping onto the small stalagmites. Step had been running for a while now, and guessed that he was close to the end of the cave.

Step had rehearsed this plan of attack with Weepinbell earlier, and Weepinbell knew exactly what to do. Step gave off a short whistle, and Weepinbell immediately picked up its pace and swung faster, gaining ground on Step. Step just prayed that Potato hadn’t gotten all the way to the Pokéball yet.

Potato, in fact, had not. He was learning first hand how rough and uneven the floor of a cave could be. While running, he had already tripped 3 or 4 times and really skinned up his legs. Running with Magikarp under his arm was an awkward event, and Potato silently vowed to ditch Magikarp when he reached the Legendary Pokéball

When Weepinbell finally swung completely out of Step’s vision, Step slowed his pace and began to let out a series of shrill cries. Step had been in the Boy Scouts for nearly four years, and had learned various bird cries during his time. He was now repeating what he learned, slightly distorting them a little.

Step didn’t know it at the time, but this had the desired effect of Potato. Potato stopped running and listened to the cries.

“What the **** is that?” he asked himself.

Magikarp wiggled in his arms, and Potato turned around and faced the direction of the entrance of the cave.

His attention on the cries Step was making, Potato never noticed the fact that directly above him was Weepinbell, hanging onto one of the many stalagmites. Weepinbell positioned itself directly over Potato’s head, and opened its mouth, and let out a cry.

Potato jumped and looked up above him at the source of the noise, and realized that he was done for. When he had looked directly up at Weepinbell, Weepinbell let go of the stalagmites it was hanging onto and dropped, mouth open wide, onto Potato’s head.

The plan worked perfectly. Weepinbell had opened its mouth wide enough to fit Potato’s entire head in its mouth. Immediately, Weepinbell tightened its lips and made a vice grip around Potato’s head. Potato had instantly dropped Magikarp and let out a scream.

Potato was in a panic. He clawed up at the plant that had his head in its mouth. He screamed, and he couldn’t see a damn thing. He ran around the cave wildly, slamming himself into the walls. He finally tripped over Magikarp, who was flailing about, wanting to help its master.

When he landed on the ground, that was the first time he felt the burning.

Weepinbell’s saliva covered his entire head, and dear God, was it hot.

When Potato had heard the sizzling, he realized it wasn’t saliva. It was acid.

Weepinbell tightened its lips around Potato’s neck, and Potato began coughing. The acid surrounding his head slowly began to melt his skin and hair. When he coughed and opened his mouth, some acid fell onto his tongue.

Potato’s head began to feel lighter as his ears melted away into nothing. Potato breathed in through his nose and brought Weepinbell’s acid into his nostrils. His panic increased when he came to the awful realization that he didn’t have any more lips. The acid began eating away at his jawbone at teeth, and he screamed.

When Step had finally reached Weepinbell and Potato, it was over. When Weepinbell saw its master, it released the grip on Potato’s head and slowly spewed out the remains of Potato’s face and skull. Step looked down at Weepinbell and nearly retched when at the sight. When he looked at Potato, he couldn’t hold it in and he puked all over his shoes.

Potato had no head. Nothing. Right where his should’ve been was a gooey, messy puddle of red, pink, and yellow mush. Step looked down at the mush, and retched once more when he saw one of Potato’s eyes bubble and pop.

Step didn’t have much time to react when he heard the cave around him start rumbling. He looked towards the entrance of the cave in terror as the ceiling of the cave began to collapse, and the walls began to crumble.

Not feeling anything other than terror, Step ran further inside of the cave, wondering what the hell happened and where the hell Kat was. Step didn’t even bother to grab Weepinbell. Step figured Weepinbell had enough common sense to run.

The deafening sound of the cave collapsing fueled the terror inside Step. When Step had ran directly into the end of the cave, he let out a little amazed laugh. Right below him was the Legendary Pokéball.

Step reached down to grab it when the collapsing cave finally caught up with him. Step was crushed under piles of rocks and mud. A massive sized rock landed directly on his neck and killed him instantly.

The last thing Step was thinking was how proud Kat would’ve been of him.

Outside of the cave, the rain turned into a light drizzle. Kat stood and watched the cave collapse and fought back tears. He glanced at Whiz and his Sandshrew, both of which had a solemn look on their faces.

“I had to do it,” said Whiz quietly. “He would’ve killed us.”

Kat wiped a solitary tear off of his cheek and swallowed. “I know.” he said.

Kat began to softly cry. Whiz turned around and faced him and was taken back by Kat’s reaction to this.

“Travel with me, okay?” said Whiz. “I’m sorry, I am. But please, we can help each other out. Please?”

Kat sobbed quietly, and his Meowth looked up at Kat, worried about its master. Kat finally stopped the crying and sighed. He looked up at Whiz and his Sandshrew, the two things that just killed one of the only best friends Kat ever had, and nodded.

“Good.” Whiz said with a small and forced smile. “I was planning on taking the northern path up to the volcano. Is that good?”

Kat nodded, not really listening.

Not saying a word, Whiz turned around and began walking. His Sandshrew looked up sadly at Kat, and scampered off with its master.

Meowth let out a little purr and began to follow Whiz. It stopped when Kat didn’t move.

Kat would’ve stayed there, wallowing in his sadness, if it hadn’t been for one delicious thought that got him moving and following Whiz.

At the right moment, the right second, Kat vowed he would avenge Step’s death.